Washington, D.C. (June 10, 2004)<\/b> \u2013 The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) voted 3-2 late Wednesday to consider whether union-opposition petitions signed by a majority of employees may be completely ignored during a \u201ccard check\u201d organizing drive.<\/p>\n
The NLRB announced its ruling in a case involving the United Steel Workers of America (USWA) union just two days after agreeing to decide related issues raised by employees coerced into union ranks by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union at Dana Corporation and Metaldyne. In those cases, the employees\u2019 petitions seeking a secret ballot election to throw out the union were gathered after<\/i> the employer recognized the union pursuant to a \u201ccard check\u201d process.<\/p>\n
National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys brought this case on behalf of employees at Cequent Towing Product\u2019s (Cequent) plant in Goshen, Indiana. Workers at the facility recently found themselves unionized by the USWA union despite the fact that a majority of employees had submitted a petition expressing their desire to remain union free in advance<\/i> of the union\u2019s recognition by their employer as their \u201cexclusive bargaining representative.\u201d Cequent officials had implemented a so-called \u201cneutrality agreement\u201d with the USWA union that severely limited employee freedoms.<\/p>\n
The NLRB\u2019s ultimate decision will impact the enforceability of so-called \u201cneutrality agreements,\u201d contracts between a union and an employer under which the employer agrees to actively assist organizers in unionizing its workers. Under these coercive agreements, employers typically grant union operatives sweeping access to their workplaces and employees\u2019 personal information, strip workers of the opportunity to a secret ballot representation election, and hold mandatory \u201ccaptive audience\u201d speeches about why employees should be unionized. Workers are typically subjected to \u201ccard check\u201d drives in which union operatives bully workers face-to-face to sign union authorization cards that count as a \u201cvote\u201d in favor of unionization.<\/p>\n
The Cequent workers are seeking a decertification election to decide whether Steelworkers union officials truly enjoy the support of a majority of Cequent\u2019s 450 employees and may lawfully act as their \u201cexclusive representative.\u201d An NLRB regional director had previously dismissed the election petitions, and the employees appealed to the NLRB in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n
In granting review, the Board will reevaluate its so-called \u201cvoluntary recognition bar rule,\u201d the non-statutory, Board-created rule stipulating that unions gaining so-called \u201cvoluntary recognition\u201d from an employer may avoid all employee challenges and bargain with an employer for a \u201creasonable period\u201d — sometimes lasting for up to one year.<\/p>\n