On December 21, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced the adoption of a final rule that is expected to allow quicker union representation elections. The rule was published in the Federal Register on December 22.

The rule, which is to take effect on April 30, 2012, is a scaled down version of amendments proposed last summer. Board proponents of the change say it’s aimed at modernizing the election process and reducing unnecessary litigation. Critics of the rule claim it will deprive employers of the time they need to respond to union-organizing efforts.

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The April 2011 unfair labor practice charge that was filed against the Boeing Co. and that became an immediate flashpoint for criticism of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), has been withdrawn. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union asked to withdraw the charge after its members ratified a four-year collective bargaining agreement on December 7.

“I am very happy to announce that my office has approved the withdrawal of a charge by the Machinists union against the Boeing Co., which brings our case in this matter to an end,” NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon said in a December 9 statement.

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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is moving ahead with a plan to allow for quicker elections on union representation even as Congress considers legislation aimed at thwarting the Board’s proposed rule.

The NLRB met on November 30 to decide on a resolution from Board Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce on whether to adopt some of the amendments to its election procedures that were proposed last summer. The two Democratic members of the Board, Pearce and Craig Becker, voted in favor of the resolution, and the Republican member, Brian Hayes, voted against it.

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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has decided to hold a vote on November 30 on portions of a controversial proposal that would speed up union elections. That decision is sparking outrage among foes of the measure.

“This announcement confirms what we’ve suspected all along: the Obama NLRB is determined to impose a flawed rule that will cripple American workers’ free choice,” U.S. Representative John Kline said in a statement issued just after the NLRB announcement of its vote. Kline, a Minnesota Republican, is chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

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Often a source of interest and concern for employers and unions alike, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been particularly top of mind in recent weeks.

• Observers have noted uncertainty over whether the agency will be able to muster a quorum as terms end this year for two of the five members.
• Additionally, business advocates have recently voiced outrage over the NLRB’s action against Boeing Corp.’s decision to locate a major production line in a nonunion plant in right-to-work South Carolina instead of in the unionized operation in Washington State.

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Wednesday’s Federal Register will feature a set of proposed amendments to National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) regulations that, if adopted, could significantly simplify the process wherein workers vote whether to unionize, reducing employers’ time to react to unionization efforts.

According to a press release from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the proposed rules would streamline the representation election process by “reduc[ing] unnecessary litigation, streamlin[ing] pre- and post-election procedures, and facilitat[ing] the use of electronic communications and document filing.”

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Tuesday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will begin its unfair labor practice case against Boeing, insisting that the company may not move some of its operations from Washington to South Carolina because the move might somehow violate workers’ rights. The outcome of this case goes well beyond South Carolina, but it is vitally important to the state — in particular, the Charleston area.

The complaint alleges that Boeing’s decision to move some operations to South Carolina was made in retaliation against the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) for work stoppages in the past. According to the complaint, the IAM had engaged in strikes against Boeing in 1977, 1989, 1995, 2005, and 2008. The union hasn’t represented Boeing employees in North Charleston since 2009, when employees at the facility voted to decertify it. The complaint asks the NLRB to require Boeing to relocate the production line to the Puget Sound facility.

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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) took “a major, but not unexpected, step” Tuesday when it announced a new proposed rule that would require employers to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Among other things, employers would have to let employees know that they have the right to “[t]ake action with one or more co-employees to improve your working conditions by, among other means, raising work-related complaints directly with your employer or with a government agency, and seeking help from the union,” as well as engaging in strikes and picketing. Covered businesses would be required to place a government-furnished poster — “Employee Rights under the National Labor Relations Act” — in prominent places in their work site and electronically, if that is the usual means of communicating with employees.

“The NLRB has never tried to impose — on all employers — such a notice requirement,” says J. Robert Brame, a Washington, D.C. attorney with McGuireWoods LLP and co-editor of Federal Employment Law Insider. In effect, the NLRB is creating a new unfair labor practice (ULP) — failure to post a new Board-drafted notice. The assumed ‘employee lack of knowledge’ was addressed earlier in one of President Obama’s first executive orders, but it was limited to federal contractors. This goes much, much further.”

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Today, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that it has submitted a proposed rule to the Federal Register that would require employers to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Under this rule, employers governed by the NLRA would have to post an employee rights notice in the same place that they post other workplace notices (such as safety, wage and hour, and antidiscrimination notices). Employers that primarily communicate with their employees electronically also would have to post the notice electronically.

The proposed notice states that employees have the right to: read more…

by Mark Adams

At first glance, nothing significant came out of Louisiana’s midterm elections. There were no Tea Party candidates to create excitement. Republicans and Democrats each lost a U.S. House seat and won a seat they hadn’t controlled, so we didn’t contribute to the change of control in the House. However, the Republican takeover of the House and the Democrats’ loss of their super-majority in the U.S. Senate will have a significant impact on the Democrats’ legislative agenda. As President Barack Obama said Tuesday morning, “My whole agenda is at risk.”

I predicted from the beginning that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would not survive a Republican filibuster even with a Democrat super-majority. After today, EFCA, the Paycheck Fairness Act, and any compromise measures are dead and buried; probably along with the rest of the administration’s labor and employment agenda.

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