Here We Go Again? US NLRB Seeks Input On Appropriate Bargaining Unit Standards

The NLRB is hoping that the fourth time is the charm when it comes to designing an enduring standard for determining an appropriate bargaining unit. Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a notice in the case American Steel Construction inviting parties and amici to submit briefs addressing whether the board should reconsider its standard for determining if a petitioned-for bargaining unit is an appropriate unit.

The NLRB's struggle to design a workable standard for determining an appropriate bargaining unit began in 2011, when it upended nearly 20 years of precedent in its decision in Specialty Healthcare. The NLRB's decision in Specialty Healthcare required employers challenging a petitioned-for unit to show that employees outside of the proposed unit shared "an overwhelming community of interest" with the employees inside the proposed unit.