New Report Indicates Rise in Union Elections, Wins in 2014

Employment Law

An annual report on union representation elections released this week has found that, even before the implementation of the NLRB's new expedited election rules, both the number of NLRB-conducted elections and the number of union election victories rose in 2014, further undercutting the justification for the new rules.  Preliminary data from a Bloomberg BNA analysis found that the NLRB conducted 1,425 elections in 2014, up from 1,374 in 2013, and that union wins rose from 890 in 2013 to 977 last year.  The new election rules are likely to prompt further increases in 2015.  Despite the increased union election success rates, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told Bloomberg BNA this week that the organization is working with Congressional Democrats on a package of bills that will "help strengthen the hand of collective bargaining, including giving collective bargaining to people that don't have a union yet."  The election rules survived a congressional attempt to block their implementation earlier this year.  However, a Washington, D.C. federal court heard oral arguments this week in one of at least two legal challenges underway that allege the rules violate employer free speech and worker privacy rights.