Few things sting as much for an employer as losing a union election. If a union wins certification in a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), then a company has a legal obligation to bargain in good faith with the union over a labor agreement that governs virtually all the terms and conditions of employment for the represented workforce. But how long does that process take? Thanks to a recent analysis by Bloomberg Law, we now have a clearer sense of this:
“It takes 461 days on average for a bargaining unit to get its first contract ratified, according to Bloomberg Law data compiled from 553 first contracts from 2005-2025.”
Why does it take so long? For anyone who hasn’t been through the collective bargaining process, negotiations generally entail both sides putting on competing proposals covering the spectrum of labor and employment issues. From wages to benefits to vacations to overtime procedures to job bidding to work rules, there is a
