Small Business Urges Circuit Court of Appeals to Invalidate Ambush Election Rule

Date: March 03, 2016

Contact: Kelly Klass (609)713-4243

NFIB will argue today
that the National Labor Relations Board illegally tipped the scales in favor of
unions with its ambush election rule

Washington,
DC (March 3, 2016)

– The National Federation of Independent
Business
(NFIB) will argue this morning, in a federal court of appeals in New
Orleans, that the National Labor Relations Board has essentially rigged union
elections in favor of organized labor with its controversial ambush election
rule. 

“Despite
the NLRB’s statutory charge to act as a ‘neutral arbiter,’ their ambush
election rule clearly seeks to put employers at a disadvantage,” said Karen
Harned, Executive Director of the NFIB Small Business Legal Center.
“Employers
now have almost no time to seek legal counsel or communicate with their
employees about the implications of unionization.  Employees are also robbed of adequate time to
consider both sides of the case for unionization.” 
 

NFIB
today joins the Associated Builders and Contractors of Texas in appealing a
lower court ruling that upheld the quickie election rule last June. The Fifth
Circuit Federal Court of Appeals will hear arguments today.

The
rule, which took effect on April 14, 2015, dramatically accelerates the
timeframe for union organizing
elections in the workplace.  Employers
were previously given a little over a month to prepare themselves and employees
for union elections.  Now they are forced
to hold elections under a radically expedited timeline, sometimes in a matter
of days.  Meanwhile, union organizers can
plan in secret for months, giving them an unfair advantage over employers.

NFIB, which likens the surprise union elections
to ambush, argues that it violates the National Labor Relations Act, the
Administrative Procedures Act, and the U.S. Constitution.
 

Under the rule, employers must also provide to
unions personal information about their employees, including home addresses,
telephone numbers, shift schedules, and personal email addresses, all of which
unions can be used by unions to solicit or even intimidate workers.

“The
ambush election rule is a terribly disguised effort by the federal government
to rig the outcome of union elections in favor of organized labor and a clear
violation of congressional intent,” Harned continued.  “Although the rule
has gone into effect, this is not the end of the legal road.  We will continue to fight it and in the
meantime, we will advise our members to prepare for these unfair
elections.” 

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