SHRM, US Chamber, NAM, and other business groups sue to block new NLRB election rules

It’s on now!

Late yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a press release in which it announced that it had filed this complaint in federal court against the National Labor Relations Board to strike the Board’s election rules, passed last month, which would create faster union elections.

More on this lawsuit, after the jump…

Joining the Chamber as plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), National Retail Federation, and Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

A spokesman for the CDW emphasized (here) that the lawsuit was necessary to protect an election system that has worked for decades: 

“For nearly 70 years, the NLRB’s election procedures have ensured employees have reasonable time to gather the facts before they cast a ballot for or against union representation. The NLRB’s rule abandons over a half century of successful elections to put the demands of politically powerful unions ahead of employees’ rights to make informed choices and employers’ rights to due process and free speech. This rule was designed to reduce, rather than increase, information for employees and entirely contradicts the spirit behind the President’s promise to have the most transparent administration in history.”

NAM Senior Vice President and General Counsel Linda Kelly described the new election rules (here) as “déjà vu with the NLRB, and American employees are hurt the most by these recycled policies.”

SHRM’s President and CEO Henry G. (Hank) Jackson too underscored (here) that these rules will have on American employees:

“The changes unfairly hinder the ability of employees to make an informed choice about whether or not to join a union. This rule is the latest and most sweeping action by the NLRB to tilt the process toward unionization and prevent employers from effectively communicating with employees, and it should be thrown out.”

Allen Smith, manager of workplace law content for SHRM, reported back in mid-December that the SHRM Board had approved a proposal to join the lawsuit. Smith notes that this is only the third time SHRM has challenged a federal regulation in court.

I’ll keep you posted as to the developments in this action.

I spent 7 minutes last night debating which side is the NLRB. Let me know what you think in the comments below…

Image source: Imgur.com