NLRB Proposes Changes To Election Rules...Again

On February 5, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") proposed sweeping changes to current union election procedures that would speed up the election process, thereby making it easier for unions to win more elections. The proposed rule changes are the same as those that were previously proposed in June 2011 and discussed in our June 29, 2011 Legal Alert. That proposal led to the adoption of a final rule that incorporated only some of the provisions of the original proposal, but that final rule was ultimately derailed by litigation over procedural defects in the adoption of the rule. (See our May 15, 2012 Legal Alert for more information.) With the recent controversy over recess appointments to the NLRB resolved and NLRB now operating with a full, Senate-confirmed five-member complement, the agency has resurrected the proposed rule changes. Not surprisingly, the new proposal was supported by the three Democratic members on the NLRB and was opposed by the