Republican Dissent Slams NLRB Union Election Rule

Employment Law

Acting Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board Phil Miscimarra is signaling to the employer community a potential reversal of the NLRB's ambush election rules when the Republican majority gains control of the Board.  In a case in which the Board denied an emergency request to delay a representation election, Acting Chairman Miscimarra filed a lengthy dissent admonishing the Board for its "preoccupation with speed between petition-filing and the election."  Echoing his dissent in the rule's original publication, Acting Chairman Miscimarra argued that the rule "unduly prejudices the parties and extinguishes the employees' right to have a reasonable period of time to become familiar with election issues," and also "curtail[s] the right of all parties to engage in protected speech."  Specifically, Acting Chairman Miscimarra admonished the Board’s unreasonable refusal to establish "any concrete parameters regarding a reasonable time frame for conducting representation elections."  President Trump has the opportunity to fill two empty NLRB seats immediately, which would give Republicans a majority on the Board for the first time in nine years.