CDW Members:
Today, the NLRB released its final "ambush elections" rule, which will be published in tomorrow's federal register. The advanced copy is available here. Last night, the Board posted information about the rule on its website, you may view that here.
CDW has already filed suit along with the US Chamber of Commerce, our joint complaint is posted here and the CDW statement here.
Happy Holidays - Geoff
CDW Members:
CDW just issued a statement on yesterday's letter from all 47 Republican Senators asking that the President not attempt to recess appoint his recent nominees, Sharon Block and Richard Griffin, to the NLRB. You can find our statement here and more on the letter from the Republican Senators here
There has been speculation the last few weeks about the President attempting to recess Consumer Financial Protection Bureau nominee, Richard Cordray and potentially some NLRB nominees. Without new appointments, the Board will no longer be able to perform certain functions when Member Becker's recess appointment expires at the end of this Senate Session, and the Board drops down to 2 members, which is less than a quorum of the full 5 member Board.
The President's nomination of Block and Griffin last week increased speculation. The announcement of the nominations is available here. A recent article on the issue in the Hill is available here.
On a different note, there was a hearing yesterday in our lawsuit in DC Federal District Court challenging the NLRB's posting requirement. The judge suggested the NLRB extend the effective date of the rule further to allow her to draft the opinion and permit possible appeals. We will keep you posted on whether the NLRB does so and any other developments in the suit.
Lastly, while we would all prefer a quiet break, we expect the NLRB will be issuing the Ambush Rule sometime shortly and may also issue several troubling decisions. We will keep you posted.
Enjoy your holidays.
Geoff Burr
CDW Members:
Yesterday, the House voted 235 to 188 in favor of H.R. 3094, the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act. Details on the vote on the bill and the various amendments are set forth below. CDW's final letter is available here; 243 organizations signed on. Our statement about the vote is available here. We will be working to ensure the bill receives some attention in the Senate.
In addition, yesterday the NLRB held a hearing where they voted 2 to 1 in favor of a resolution offered by Chairman Mark Pearce to streamline the ambush election proposed rule. Member Craig Becker and Chairman Pearce voted in favor of the proposal, while Member Brian Hayes dissented, criticizing the substance of the proposal as well as the Board's failure to follow procedural rules. The Board will now move forward with drafting a final rule based on the Chairman's resolution.
Based on the resolution, we expect the final rule in the next few weeks. The rule will not contain some of the more widely discussed aspects of the proposed rule, such as the 7 day period for a hearing and the requirement employers release employee phone numbers and email addresses. The final rule, nonetheless, is still expected to significantly truncate the time period for elections and deprive employers of many due process rights. In short, the streamlined rule would radically change election procedures in an effort to promote rapid, increased unionization at the expense of employees and employers. Littler has a post with more details here. You can view CDW's comments on the original proposed rule here. We will be watching closely and will keep you posted. The Board's information about the hearing, including a video archive that will be posted later today, is available here.
Geoffrey Burr
Vice President, Federal Affairs
Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc.
4250 N. Fairfax Drive, 9th Floor
Arlington, VA 22203
LEGISLATIVE DETAIL FOR H.R. 3094
Motion to Rise with Recommendation that Enacting Clause be Stricken – FAILED 176-241; Roll Call 863
Republican YEA – 0; NAY – 233
Democrat YEA – 176; NAY – 8
Bishop (D-NY): Amendment No. 1—Requires that the attorney or filing party meet certain standards before filing and would give the Board authority to impose sanctions on a party for presenting a frivolous or vexatious filing during pre-election proceedings. – FAILED 187-228; Roll Call 864
Republican YEA – 6; NAY – 226
Democrat YEA – 181; NAY – 2
Boswell (D-IA): Amendment No. 2—Prohibits employers that have paid any executive compensation bonuses in excess of 10,000 percent of the annual compensation of the average employee from raising relevant and material issues during a pre-election hearing – FAILED 181-239; Roll Call 865
Republican YEA – 3; NAY – 230
Democrat YEA – 178; NAY – 9
Walz (D-MN): Amendment No. 3—Prevents this Act from applying to employers that have been found liable for any labor law violation against a veteran of the Armed Forces during the 1-year period preceding the filing of a petition from raising relevant and material issues during a pre-election hearing – FAILED 200-221; Roll Call 866
Republican YEA – 14; NAY – 220
Democrat YEA – 186; NAY – 1
Jackson Lee (D-TX): Amendment No. 4—Strikes the section of the bill that would ensure employees have adequate time to educate themselves about unionization – FAILED 188-236;Roll Call 867
Republican YEA – 7; NAY – 229
Democrat YEA – 181; NAY – 7
Democrat Motion to Recommit – FAILED 185-239; Roll Call 868
Republican YEA – 1; NAY – 235
Democrat YEA – 184; NAY – 4
Republican voting YEA: Jones
Democrats voting NAY: Boren, Cooper, Cuellar, Matheson
Final Passage of H.R. 3094 — "To amend the National Labor Relations Act with respect to representation hearings and the timing of elections of labor organizations under that Act." –PASSED 235-188; Roll Call 869
Republican YEA – 229; NAY – 8
Democrat YEA – 6; NAY – 180
Republicans voting NAY: Grimm, Johnson (IL), King (NY), LaTourette, LoBiondo, Runyan, Smith (NJ), Young (AK)
Democrats voting YEA: Barrow, Boren, Cooper, Cuellar, Matheson, McIntyre
CDW Members:
Below are links to the final letters that were sent to the Hill last week.
The first letter is to Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Kline and Ranking Member Miller in support of the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act. The bill directly addresses the NLRB ambush election rulemaking and the decision in Specialty Healthcare, which opens the door to “micro-unions.” Hopefully, many of you were able to make it to the hearing last week.
The second letter is to Chairs and Ranking Members of House Appropriations Committee and LHHS Subcommittee in support of the riders in the draft fiscal year 2012 Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) funding bill addressing:
- NLRB proposed rule on Ambush elections;
- Specialty Healthcare case - Micro-unions;
- The NLRB notice posting rule;
- Lamons Gasket/ Dana cases - Secret Ballot Elections; and
- DOL’s Persuader Proposed rule.
CDW Members:
I wanted to let you know that CDW will be represented at NLRB hearing next Monday and Tuesday on the proposed "ambush elections" rule by Chuck Cohen of Morgan Lewis. Chuck will be speaking on Monday afternoon. The full list of speakers is availablehere and a webcast will be available here.
While the hearing is next week, comments on the NLRB rule as well as DOL's gag rule are not due until August 22. CDW will be launching a grassroots website in the next few weeks, which will provide sample comments and help you and your members with filing those comments.
Lastly, we placed an op-ed in today's Washington Times on these issues. You can view that here.
Thanks,
Geoff
Courtesy of Wall Street Journal
Plan To Ease Way for Unions
The National Labor Relations Board Tuesday proposed the most sweeping changes to the federal rules governing union organizing elections since 1947, giving a boost to unions that have long called for the agency to give employers less time to fight representation votes.
The NLRB's proposals would likely compress the time between a formal call for a vote by workers on whether to join a union, and the election itself. It is the latest in a series of actions by the board and other agencies controlled by Obama administration appointees that respond to labor leaders' calls for more union friendly federal labor policies....
WASHINGTON, DC // APRIL 26, 2011 // The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) today issued the following statement in response to the release of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) letter declaring the agency’s intent to immediately sue Arizona and South Dakota over state constitutional provisions requiring secret ballots when employees decide whether or not to join a union. The two states, along with Utah and South Carolina, enacted the constitutional provisions as part of ballot measures last fall. In the letter, the Board states it is only moving forward with suits against Arizona and South Dakota at this time.
“It is astonishing that the Board has once again decided to promote card check – a key component of the widely unpopular and job-killing Employee Free Choice Act,” said Geoffrey Burr, chair of CDW. “This latest move against the voters and workers of Arizona and South Dakota is simply another example of the Board placing the interests of union bosses above those of employees, businesses and the American public.”
“If the government is going to pursue a policy of challenging laws based on federal preemption, it should do so consistently, not just when it promotes Big Labor’s agenda.”
“Unfortunately, it appears that the NLRB’s latest attack is only the tip of the iceberg,” Burr concluded, “as the Board has also threatened to sue both South Carolina and Utah. The NLRB attempt to rob workers of a right to secret ballots by overturning initiatives the voters of South Dakota and Arizona passed by secret ballot elections is sad and ironic.”
CDW Members and Stakeholders,
On Friday, CDW issued a statement in response to the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) recent complaint against Boeing seeking to require that the company assemble certain aircraft in its unionized Washington State production plant rather than its non-union South Carolina plant. There has been a significant amount of press coverage on the issue, including editorials expressing outrage at the Board’s actions from the Seattle Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal. We will continue to follow the situation and keep you posted.
Also, late last week, CDW filed a motion in the NLRB case Mental Health Associates and SEIU Local 509. In the motion, we asked the Board (1) permission to file a brief (2) to allow us to May 31st to submit the brief and (3) to issue a general invitation to all interested parties to file briefs. If the Board grants the motion, we will be emailing you all a copy of the draft brief and offering you the opportunity to sign on.
The SEIU International already filed an amicus brief in the case without an invitation from the Board. SEIU International argues in its brief that the Board should reverse its long standing presumption that the work site is the best setting for a representation election - and instead institute a presumption that the election occur at a neutral site.
The work site is generally preferred as the election location as it increases voter participation and minimize workplace disruption and intimidation against employees, particularly those who refused to sign cards.
We will let you know how the Board response to our motion.
Please do not hesitate to contact me or Josh Ulman, josh@ulmanpolicy.com, with any questions.
Geoff
CDW Members:
Below please find clips relating to President Obama’s recent re-nomination of Craig Becker to the NLRB and other items of interest.
CDW:
Becker Links:
NLRB
Obama uses normally-neutral board to pay back unions
The Daily Caller / Matthew Boyle
Jan 22, 2011
President Barack Obama’s administration continues its private sector unionization efforts, this time with the historically “politically neutral” National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). A newly proposed rule from the NLRB would require private sector companies to post employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act, the legislation that gives employees the “right” to unionize, in their workplaces.
President Obama nominates Lafe E. Solomon and Terence F. Flynn to National Labor Relations Board
Union Density
Union Membership in U.S. Fell to a 70-Year Low Last Year
New York Times
Jan 22, 2011
Barry T. Hirsch, a labor economist at Georgia State University, sees many reasons for the decline in unionization over the last few decades.
“Unionized companies obviously raise wages and benefits for their workers, and while they often raise productivity, typically they’re at a cost disadvantage, and unionized companies haven’t fared as well,” he said. “In addition, in an increasingly globalized, very fast-moving world, unionized companies may not be able to adjust as quickly.”
