With all of the attention focused May 15 on the Oregon Primary Election, there were other bits of news of interest to union members that slipped under the radar. One such instance was the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reversing course and suspending implementation of its so-called "quickie" union election rule. It did so after the District Court for the District of Columbia deemed the rule invalid because an NLRB quorum was not present when the rule was invoked.

 

In what appears to be a quirky decision, the D.C. court said all three NLRB members must participate in order to establish a quorum.  That runs counter to the general rule-of-thumb in most other bodies of government, where a quorum, by definition, is simply a majority of those elected, appointed or however placed on the administrative body.

 

There's no word yet as to whether the NLRB will appeal the decision, but it will likely do so. For now, NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon has temporarily suspended the rule. The measure, which had taken effect on April 30, has been characterized as acceleration of the union election process. Here are some of the rule's specifics:

 

• The rule denied employers, at least from their point of view, the opportunity to discuss unionization with employees and eliminated the ability to challenge proposed elections.

 

• The rule prevented employer challenges to potential employee voters before the election.

 

• The rule prevented employers from appealing, before the vote, an NLRB regional director's decision as to who is entitled to vote; and

 

• The rule eliminated the 25-day window after a direction of an election, thereby causing elections to be faster than the pre-existing process.

 

As you might expect, Big Business was quick to applaud the decision; organized labor criticized the action. While some observers have speculated that the NLRB could simply republish the "quickie" union election rule with the existing panel, because President Obama appointed three of the five NLRB members as recess appointments without seeking confirmation by the Senate, the authority of the NLRB to act as a quorum is presently being challenged in another federal court. Ergo, it seems unlikely the NLRB will revote on the "quickie rule" until the D.C. Court of Appeals case is settled.