National Labor Relations Board

Created in the 1930s, the NLRB is an independent federal agency that protects the rights of private-sector employees and is charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Over the years, the NLRB has pursued an activist agenda to create an environment to effectively dismantle the merit shop contractor.

By being aggressive, IEC, along with other like-minded groups, has successfully worked to counter many threats. However, several pending issues, such as the NLRB’s proposal to shorten the time period for  union elections from a median of 38 days to as few as 10, have yet to be resolved. This proposed change to election procedures would leave employers almost no time to speak with their employees about the impact of unionization on their workplace and benefits, and cuts the time workers have to review all of the facts and make an informed decision about their representation.

IEC recently submitted comments to the docket for the NLRB’s proposed rule and continues to aggressively advocate for a legislative solution to prohibit further action on this flawed and needless attempt to change longstanding election procedures.

IEC also awaits a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Noel Canning v. NLRB, a case challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s 2012 appointments to the NLRB. Should the Court uphold an earlier ruling by the D.C. Circuit, which found the appointments to be invalid as the Senate did not confirm the members and was in session at the time they were placed on the Board, hundreds of case decisions made during the members’ tenure with the NLRB could be challenged.