NLRB “quickie” election rule survives a Senate challenge

Last week was not so good for the National Labor Relations Board. The DC Circuit iced a Board rule that would have required most private-sector employers to post a notice in the workplace informing employees of their right to form a union.

Yesterday, however, the pendulum swung the other way and employers may soon be feeling the heat as we are now that much closer to expedited union elections.

Feel the heat? Iced a Board rule? Am I firing up a cool tune from Foreigner or Katy Perry after the jump? Guilty as charged. Plus, click through for details on how faster union elections may soon be coming to your workplace, and possibly another unwelcome surprise (hint: four letters, sounds like EFCA)…

(Sorry, Gen-Yers. Katy Perry’s “Hot ‘N Cold” contains some coarse language that may not get by the old Standards and Practices. That, and the song sucks. Anyhoo…)

As I warned back in June of last year, the NLRB was considering new rules that were designed, among other things, to expedite union elections. Then, in November, the Board reiterated its intent to cut down the average time between union petition and election, by adopting portions of the rules proposed in June. You can find details on that here.

To put the kibosh on these new election rules, Sen. Mike Enzi (WY-R), introduced a resolution in the Senate earlier this year. However, after lively debate on the resolution over the past two days, Sen. Enzi failed to drum up enough support for the resolution, as 54 Senators voted against it. (Even if enough Senators have supported it, President Obama vowed to veto).

So, where does this leave employers? Maybe in a worse spot than they realize according to Labor Relations Today’s Brennan Bolt, who blogs that notwithstanding today’s win for orgamized labor, “unions are not completely satisfied with the new election rules and will continue their push for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).“

Hot damn! Now, I can dust off all of my old materials and be the first to host a 2012 EFCA symposium for employers. Oh, wait…

Based on the current composition of both the Hosue and Senate, don’t expect EFCA to happen any time soon. However, all bets may be off depending on the results of the November elections.