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ARTICLE · 23 DECEMBER 2022

NLRB Votes To Adopt Relaxed Standard To Organize "Micro-Units"

Phelps Dunbar LLP
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The National Labor Relations Board recently voted 3-2 to adopt a relaxed standard for workers to form smaller (and separate) bargaining units within their respective workplaces, also referred to as "micro-units."

United StatesEmployment and HR
Marcellus D. Chamberlain
Marcellus D. Chamberlain

The National Labor Relations Board recently voted 3-2 to adopt a relaxed standard for workers to form smaller (and separate) bargaining units within their respective workplaces, also referred to as "micro-units."

As a practical matter, "micro-units" are easier to organize than larger units and ultimately provide unions the advantage of acquiring a foothold on various workplace conditions that could impact a larger group of employees. This decision is expected to have far-reaching ramifications across the collective bargaining landscape.

The new decision (American Steel) effectively reversed two key Trump-administration decisions (PCC Structurals and The Boeing Co.), which implemented a more exacting legal standard to approve the formation of a micro-unit. The decision also revived the previous standard established in the NLRB's 2011 Specialty Healthcare decision, signaling yet another a pro-union shift by the Board's Democratic majority.

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