Steven M. Swirsky, Adam C. Abrahms, and Neresa A. De Biasi, attorneys in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, co-authored an article in the Employee Relations Law Journal, titled, “General Counsel of National Labor Relations Board Pushes to Skip Union Elections by Reinstating Joy Silk Doctrine.”
Following is an excerpt (see below to download the full version in PDF format):
Employees’ free choice and their right to a secret-ballot election on union membership are potentially at risk, given the latest development from the Office of the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”). On April 11, 2022, the general counsel (“General Counsel”) of the NLRB filed a brief1 urging a change in long-standing precedent, demanding that the Board force employers to recognize unions as the representative of their employees without first allowing employees the opportunity to cast their votes on union membership in a secret-ballot election held by the Board.
The only real requirement for this dramatic result is that the union present signed authorization cards from a majority of the employees that ostensibly confirm the employees’ desire to be represented by the union and that the employer decline recognition of the union without a good faith doubt as to the union’s majority.
This article originally appeared in Management Memo in April 2022.