WASHINGTON — The National Labor Relations Board Wednesday said it had adopted a final rule that it said would speed the union election process, drawing howls of protest — and a lawsuit — from retailers and other business groups.
The rule is to be published in the Federal Register Thursday and take effect on April 30.
As previously reported in SN, the rule, focusing on procedures to be followed by the NLRB in contested union elections, is a stripped-down version of a slate of proposed rule changes introduced this summer that drew 65,000 responses. The NLRB said it was holding for further deliberation parts of that proposal that had generated the most debate while moving ahead with parts considered relatively "less controversial."
The Retail Industry Leaders Association did not see it that way, issuing a statement Wednesday denouncing the so-called "ambush election" rule.
"This decision erodes employers' free speech and due process rights, and opens the door to rushed elections that will deny employees access to critical information and time to consider the issues at hand prior to entering the voting booth," said Katherine Lugar, executive vice president for public affairs of RILA.
A coalition including the National Retail Federation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the meantime filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to challenge the ruling.
The rule was approved in a vote Nov. 30 by the two Democratic members of the board. The lone Republican, Brian Hayes, dissented.
"This rule is about giving all employees who have petitioned for an election the right to vote in a timely manner and without the impediment of needless litigation," NLRB Chairman Mark Pearce said in a statement.
