NRF Urges NLRB to Reject Union Organizing Rules Changes

The group warns that a proposal for "quickie" union elections would "eviscerate" labor relations rules.

August 25, 2011

WASHINGTON - The National Retail Federation (NRF) filed formal comments earlier this week urging the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to reject a proposal to accelerate the timeframe to hold union organizing elections.

The proposal, which would shorten the timeframe to as little as 10 days, would deny employers the right to argue against unionization and would shortchange workers from hearing a balanced argument, the NRF maintains.

"The current labor system fairly balances the interests of retailers and employees in a system that has worked efficiently for many decades," NRF said. "The NLRB€™s proposals, however, would eviscerate that balance. The proposals would raise costs for retailers and ultimately consumers, and harm employees in a myriad of ways, such as by denying them necessary information and threatening their right to privacy."

NRF€™s remarks come in response to NLRB regulations proposed earlier this year. Insofar as the "quickie elections," the NRF said there is no need for the change because elections already occur an average of 31 days after a petition is filed and within 56 days for 95 percent of elections, an efficient timeframe.

The 10-day period would "severely undercut" the ability for retailers to make their arguments against unionization, the NRF said, leaving workers "to vote without being fully informed and with unanswered questions concerning the bargaining unit they will be joining."

The NRF also said the 10-day period would make it difficult to determine who is eligible to vote in a union election, especially because more than one-third of retail workers are part-time and many others are seasonal.

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