Washington, DC (December 12, 2014) – Today, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) again issued new regulations that give union organizers the upper hand over independent-minded employees during unionization elections.
The new rules are designed to dramatically shorten the time individual workers have to share information with their coworkers about the effects of unionization. The new regulations also require employers to hand over workers’ private information to union organizers, including their phone numbers and email addresses.
This isn’t the first time the NLRB rushed out the new rules in December before a Member’s term expired, this time as former union lawyer Nancy Schiffer’s term expires on Tuesday, December 16. The NLRB previously rushed the regulations out before former Service Employees International Union (SEIU) lawyer and Obama NLRB recess appointee Craig Becker’s term expired in December 2011. They were later invalidated by a federal district court in 2012 on procedural grounds.
Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation released the following statement in the wake of the NLRB’s announcement:
«Christmas came early for Big Labor as the Obama Labor Board has once again given union bosses increased power to ambush workers into dues-paying union ranks.
«The NLRB’s new ambush union organizing election rules make union organizing campaigns even more one-sided and stifle the rights of employees who may oppose unionization in their workplace. The rules also mandate that workers’ personal information be handed over to union officials, and combined with yesterday’s NLRB ruling that employers must allow company-owned email systems be used for union organizing, the new rules open the door for cyber-bullying by union organizers.
«Although a secret ballot election can’t prevent the fundamental violation of individual rights that occurs under union boss monopoly bargaining, at the very least a reasonable election period is needed that gives workers enough time to educate their coworkers about the potential impact of unionization after months or even years of union organizing and propaganda.
«This power grab reminds us once again that the Big Labor-dominated NLRB, and in fact federal labor law, is not written and enforced to help workers, but to empower union officials with unique and damaging privileges designed to bolster their power and revenue.»
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in more than 250 cases nationwide per year.
