The National Labor Relations Board has issued a final rule that amends election case procedures to reduce "unnecessary litigation and delays."
The final rule was designed to speed up union elections and includes the following provisions:
• Regional hearings will be limited to issues relevant to the question of whether an election should be conducted.
• The hearing officer will have the authority to limit testimony to relevant issues and decide whether or not to accept post-hearing briefs.
• All election-related appeals will be consolidated into a single post-election appeals process to eliminate delay in holding elections.
• Board reviews of post-election decisions are now discretionary rather than mandatory.
Although unions have thrown their support to the final rule, business groups have voiced strong opposition against it, alleging the final rule is "a transparent attempt by the NLRB to help unions," according to the report.
As a result, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace have filed a lawsuit against NLRB in a Washington, D.C., district court, according to a Hill report.
"While couched in technicalities, the purpose of this regulation is to cut-off free speech rights to educate employees about the effects of unionization. The elimination of these rights has long been on the wish list of organized labor, and the board has dutifully granted that wish today," Randy Johnson, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's senior vice president of labor, immigration and employee benefits, said in a statement.
The final rule was designed to speed up union elections and includes the following provisions:
• Regional hearings will be limited to issues relevant to the question of whether an election should be conducted.
• The hearing officer will have the authority to limit testimony to relevant issues and decide whether or not to accept post-hearing briefs.
• All election-related appeals will be consolidated into a single post-election appeals process to eliminate delay in holding elections.
• Board reviews of post-election decisions are now discretionary rather than mandatory.
Although unions have thrown their support to the final rule, business groups have voiced strong opposition against it, alleging the final rule is "a transparent attempt by the NLRB to help unions," according to the report.
As a result, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace have filed a lawsuit against NLRB in a Washington, D.C., district court, according to a Hill report.
"While couched in technicalities, the purpose of this regulation is to cut-off free speech rights to educate employees about the effects of unionization. The elimination of these rights has long been on the wish list of organized labor, and the board has dutifully granted that wish today," Randy Johnson, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's senior vice president of labor, immigration and employee benefits, said in a statement.
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