NLRB Approves Quickie Election Rule

Just one day after limiting the ability of employers to restrict employee use of email systems, the NLRB today handed another victory to organized labor when it approved a new rule for the conduct of union representation elections – commonly referred to as the "quickie" or "ambush" election rule. The new rule will clearly speed up the union representation election process and restrict the ability of employers to communicate with their employees over the significance of that election.

The Board's announcement today on the 3-2 vote called the new rules an effort "to modernize and streamline the process." However, the two Republican Board members dissenting from the rule change called it unnecessary, violative of worker privacy and an obstacle to workers making informed choices regarding unionization. Members Philip Miscimarra and Harry Johnson wrote in dissent that "[t]he final rule has become the Mount Everest of regulations: massive in scale and unforgiving in