Presidential Veto Means "Ambush" Elections may be on the horizon
April 01, 2015
Presidential Veto Means "Ambush" Elections may be on the horizon
President Barack Obama vetoed a joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval of the National Labor Relations Board's so-called "ambush election" rule, on March 31, 2015.
The business community has opposed the rule for shortening the time between an election petition and the union election to potentially as little as 14 days, and mandating that employers provide unions with employees' personal e-mail addresses and phone numbers during organizing campaigns.
Obama has praised the rule, which will take effect April 14 (unless blocked by a lawsuit filed on January 5, 2015) as putting "forward some common-sense, modest changes to streamline the voting process for folks who wanted to join a union." The January suit has 5 distinct plaintiffs which include: The US Chamber of Commerce, Coalition for a Democratic Workforce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Retail Federation, and the Society for Human Resource Management.
Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee stated that "Congress will continue to oppose this radical assault on workers and employers, and we will continue to demand a fair union election process."
"The NLRB's new ambush election rule forces a union election in as little as 14 days-before an employer and most employees even have a chance to figure out what is going on," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions. "I'm disappointed the president wasted this opportunity to prevent the board's rule from infringing on every employee"s right to privacy and every employer's right to free speech."
We will continue to monitor this development and will pass along further guidance should the opposing lawsuit prove unsuccessful. If you have questions or need assistance with any HR related issues please contact SESCO at 423-764-4127 or by email at sesco@sescomgt.com
