WATT PoultryUSA - January 2012

❱❱Poultry’sPerch

Obama Administration and NLRB: Advocates for unionization

ince President Obama’s election and his recess appointment of two pro-labor advocates to the National Labor

Relations Board, a number of pro-labor initiatives have been presented as proposed legislation or regulation. Most recently, a proposed rule by the NLRB shortens the time frame for union election campaigns to as little as 10 days from the ;ling of a Notice of Hearing.

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‘Card check’ would have ended
secret elections

The most egregious of the legislative initiatives was the March 10, 2009, reintroduction of the Employee Free Choice Act. Among other issues, the EFCA, also known as “card check,” would have allowed a union to be certi;ed as the of;cial union to bargain with an employer if union of;cials collect signatures of a majority of workers. The bill would have removed the present right of the employer to demand an additional, separate secret ballot vote and may have led to coercion and intimidation of employees to sign an authorization card.

In addition, the bill would require mandatory arbitration if the parties were unable to agree on the terms of a collective bargaining agreement within 120 days following certi;-cation of the union. Fortunately, this bill did not have enough support to pass the 60-vote, super-majority requirement in the Senate and has not been enacted.

NLRB requires pro-union
posters

In the past year, the NLRB proposed two regulations that will bene;t union efforts to

organize employees. On December 22, 2010, a new requirement for a workplace poster, advising employees of their right to organize, was proposed. Despite considerable opposition from business, including a February 16, 2011 comment letter from USPOULTRY, the National Chicken Council, and the National Turkey Federation (see Position Papers on our website, www.poultryegg.org) arguing that the poster notice exceeds NLRB’s authority and the proposed language in the poster is heavily slanted toward the pro-union view, the poster requirement are scheduled to become effective January 31, 2012.