Published
September 19, 2024
On September 17, Congressman Eric Burlison introduced new legislation to block the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) recent election rule, which the Board published on August 1. The bill would invoke the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to nullify the final rule, formally known as “Representation—Case Procedures: Election Bars; Proof of Majority Support in Construction Industry Collective-Bargaining Relationships,” although the NLRB dubiously refers to it as the “Fair Choice–Employee Voice Final Rule.”
The NLRB’s new rule rescinds a 2020 pro-worker “Election Protection Rule” established during the Trump administration and reintroduces procedures that protect union bosses instead of workers. Specifically, the new rule limits access to secret ballot elections, making it more challenging for employees to decide whether to form or join a union without facing intimidation.
The rule reverses the protections that the 2020 rule put into place by effectively entrenching unions as employee representatives, regardless of worker preference, and it significantly delays or obstructs decertification elections. In other words, it inverts the intent of the National Labor Relations Act by prioritizing union dues and perks over workers’ rights to fair and democratic union representation.
In response to these concerns, Congressman Burlison’s bill aims to block the NLRB’s rule and reinstate the Election Protection Rule to safeguard workers’ rights and ensure that union representation processes remain transparent and fair.
As this blog has observed on many occasions, the Biden-Harris NLRB has done everything possible to force as many workers into unions as it can and to make it as hard as possible for workers to decertify a union they no longer want. Congressman Burlison’s bill represents an important effort to promote fairness for workers instead of entrenching union control.
By challenging the NLRB’s new rule, Burlison’s bill aims to protect workers’ rights to secret ballot elections and ensure that union representation remains a choice made by informed and uncoerced employees. That’s what the NLRA is supposed to promote, but it seems the exact opposite of what the Biden-Harris administration wants.
About the authors
Sean P. Redmond
Sean P. Redmond is Vice President, Labor Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
