Employees’ free choice and their right to a secret-ballot election on union membership are potentially at risk, given the latest development from the Office of the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”). On April 11, 2022, the NLRB’s General Counsel filed a brief urging a change in long-standing precedent, demanding that the Board force employers to recognize unions as the representative of their employees without first allowing employees the opportunity to cast their votes on union membership in a secret-ballot election held by the Board. The only real requirement for this dramatic result is that the union present signed authorization cards from a majority of the employees that ostensibly confirm the employees’ desire to be represented by the union and that the employer decline recognition of the union without a good faith doubt as to the union’s majority. This brief is General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo’s first major move to follow through on her previously stated goal of restoring this standard—known as the Joy Silk doctrine—which was abandoned more than 50 years ago.
Blog Editors
Recent Updates
- NLRB Issues Complaint Alleging Business-to-Business No-Poaching Agreements Violate Employees’ Rights in Latest Attack on Restrictive Covenants
- Western District of Texas Says NLRB Structure Unconstitutional, Issues Injunction Preventing SpaceX Unfair Labor Practice Hearing from Proceeding
- Chevron Is Overturned, but Stakeholders Need Not Worry
- Video: SCOTUS Limits Availability of Injunctions in NLRB Unfair Labor Practice Cases - Employment Law This Week
- Supreme Court Rules NLRB 10(j) Injunctions Must Meet Higher Preliminary Injunction Standard in Blow to NLRB