• About Us
  • Activity
  • Advertising
  • Books
  • Business
  • Contact
  • Dashboard
  • EB5
  • Entertainment
  • feedback
  • Forgot Your Password?
  • Government
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • Login
  • Members
  • Meme generator
  • National
  • Nevada
  • Nevada News and Views
  • Newsmax
  • NN&V Ads
  • Opinion
  • Pick a New Password
  • Politics
  • Polls
  • Privacy Policy
  • Profile
  • Recent comments by me
  • Recent comments on my posts
  • Register
  • Submit post
  • Subscribe
  • Subscription Confirmation
  • Survey
  • Survey
  • Terms of Service
  • Today’s Top 10
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Welcome!
  • Yop Poll Archive
Nevada News and Views
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact
  • More
    • Nevada
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Travel
    • News
    • Sports
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Pinterest

  • RSS

Business

Union-Friendly Changes By NRLB Will Affect Your Business

Union-Friendly Changes By NRLB Will Affect Your Business
N&V Staff
January 20, 2012

NN&V Exclusive

(Rebecca Smith) – In 2011, the NLRB made some very union-friendly changes, and every employer should be aware of how they could affect their business.  Five of the most aggressive changes are

  • Micro bargaining units
  • Notice of the right to unionize
  • Handbook policies
  • Card check recognition
  • Increases in 10(j) Federal Court Injunctions

 1. The micro bargaining unit should be a concern for businesses of all sizes.  Under the new standard, so long as a union’s petitioned-for unit consists of a clearly identifiable group of employees, the Board will presume the unit is appropriate. If an employer argues that the unit should include additional employees, the employer must demonstrate that employees in a larger unit share an “overwhelming” community of interest with those in the petitioned-for unit.

The practical effect of this decision is that, in the not uncommon situation where a union is unable to garner widespread support, unions in all industries will be encouraged to organize the smallest units of employees possible.

Employers, meanwhile, will be forced either to accede to the appropriateness of a mini-unit or take on the difficult and costly task of proving that other employees belong in the unit. Suffice it to say, it is easier for a union to organize a small unit of employees and, once it gains a toehold, a domino effect may ensue, as one narrow unit after another is organized. As a result, employers may be forced into negotiations with multiple bargaining units.

Employees will feel the effects of this decision in highly fragmented, “micro” bargaining units that are easier to unionize and harder to contest. In the end, business has a divided workforce.

2. The notice of the right to unionize sent the Chamber of Commerce into cardiac arrest.

On August 25, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or “the Board”) issued a final rule entitled Notification of Employee Rights under the National Labor Relations Act. This rule mandates that private sector employers subject to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) post a notice informing employees of their rights under the NLRA in a “conspicuous place” readily seen by employees and penalizes employers for non-compliance.

Member Brian Hayes dissented and ended his written dissent by expressing his opinion that “a reviewing court will soon rescue the Board from itself and restore the law to where it was before the sorcerer’s apprentice sent it askew.”

The final rule requires employers to post a specific form notice that begins with the following preamble:

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) guarantees the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively with their employers, and to engage in other protected concerted activity or to refrain from engaging in any of the above activity. Employees covered by the NLRA are protected from certain types of employer and union misconduct. This Notice gives you general information about your rights, and about the obligations of employers and unions under the NLRA. Contact the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Federal agency that investigates and resolves complaints under the NLRA, using the contact information supplied below, if you have any questions about specific rights that may apply in your particular workplace.

The required notice also informs employees of specific rights afforded them under the NLRA, such as the right to:

  • Organize a union to negotiate with their employer concerning your wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment
  • Form, join or assist a union
  • Bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing for a contract with the employer setting wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions
  • Discuss wages and benefits and other terms and conditions of employment or union organizing with co-workers or a union
  • Take action with one or more co-workers to improve working conditions by, among other means, raising work-related complaints directly with the employer or with a government agency, and seeking help from a union
  • Strike and picket, depending on the purpose or means of the strike or the picketing
  • Choose not to do any of these activities, including joining or remaining a member of a union

The required notice then contains a section that explains the concept of collective bargaining, as follows:

If you and your co-workers select a union to act as your collective bargaining representative, your employer and the union are required to bargain in good faith in a genuine effort to reach a written, binding agreement setting your terms and conditions of employment. The union is required to fairly represent you in bargaining and enforcing the agreement.

The notices must be posted physically and electronically following these guidelines:

  • Post the notice in a conspicuous place that is readily seen by employees, including all places where other notices to employees are posted
  • Post the notice on the employer’s internet or intranet site if the employer customarily posts notices to employees about personnel rules or policies on those sites.

The possible impact of required posting may cause some employees to discuss and explore unionization, and posting could well increase employee-driven (as opposed to union-initiated) campaigns. As a result, employers may want to consider taking a more proactive approach to the notice requirements, including conducting the supervisor training mentioned above and undertaking a strategic analysis of the workplace and potential vulnerabilities.

Part II will discuss handbook policies, card check recognition and increases in 10(j) Federal Court injunctions. – Ed.

(Rebecca Smith is a former Teamster who now owns Taltos Consulting, Inc. and is a lead consultant for the Labor Relations Institute. She volunteers with the Wounded Warrior Project and St Jude’s Children’s Hospital.)

Take today’s poll: Should the fourth and fifth place finishers in Saturday’s South Carolina’s Presidential Primary withdraw from the race?

Prev postNext post

Related ItemsNational Labor Relations ActNational Labor Relations BoardNLRANRLBright to unionizeworkplace changes
Business
January 20, 2012
N&V Staff

Related ItemsNational Labor Relations ActNational Labor Relations BoardNLRANRLBright to unionizeworkplace changes

More in Business

Graves: Don’t Allow Subsidized, Foreign Sugarcane to Enter U.S. Markets

N&V StaffNovember 1, 2022
Read More

Conservatives Should Not Surrender on Sugar

N&V StaffOctober 7, 2022
Read More

Sugar Growers Outraged by New Study Showing Big Candy Posting Big Profits

N&V StaffSeptember 26, 2022
Read More

Behold the First Truly Post-Trump Farm Bill – Properly This Time, DC Conservatives

N&V StaffSeptember 19, 2022
Read More

Food security issues, farmers’ pessimism greet the 2023 farm bill

N&V StaffSeptember 16, 2022
Read More

Runaway inflation puts American food security at risk

N&V StaffSeptember 14, 2022
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Subscribe Free By Email

Looking for the best in breaking news and conservative views? Let Chuck do all the work for you! Subscribe to his FREE "Muth's Truths" e-newsletter.

* indicates required
Nevada News and Views
Nevada News & Views is an educational project of Citizen Outreach Foundation, a non-partisan IRS-approved 501(c)(3) organization. It is not associated or affiliated with any political party or group. Nevada News & Views is accessible by the public at no cost. It funds its operations through tax-deductible contributions from donors and supporters and does not accept government money or grants.

TAGS

Featured Article Nevada Politics business Muth's Truths government Opinion Government Muth’s Truths Obama Ron Knecht News Donald Trump GOP Republicans

Copyright © 2022 Citizen Outreach | Maintained by VirtualAlly

Does State Have Right To Ask Small Business Owners To Jump Higher Than Competition?
SoS Ross Miller: “Our Services Aren’t Worth Your Money”