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U.S. House votes to restore balance to NLRB
PA Chamber urging Senate action to rein in board's pro-organized labor slant
The PA Chamber applauds the U.S. House for passing the "Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act," which would restore balance to labor laws being advanced by the National Labor Relations Board.
The proposed Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act would stop the board from implementing its proposal to fast track union organizing elections. Under the change, elections that once took weeks could now be held within 10 days. This would fail to provide employers with sufficient time to communicate their position on unionization and collective bargaining.
The WDFA would also codify criteria that NLRB has historically used for determining the appropriateness of a proposed bargaining unit. WDFA would reverse the "Specialty Healthcare" decision, which overturned the long-standing criteria and created a presumption in favor of whatever unit unions propose, which would likely be small, easily organized groups of employees. If the Specialty Healthcare decision is allowed to stand, employers could face a hodge podge of micro-collective bargaining units in the workplace, creating confusion with regard to wages, benefits and working conditions.
In recent months, NLRB has proposed a number of rules that favor big labor over the rights of employers and their employees. The PA Chamber cautioned that in the wake of the failure last session of union card check legislation, NLRB would seek to enact through regulation what couldn't be accomplished legislatively. That scenario has proven accurate.
Examples of the board's pro-labor slant have been a new employer posting requirement that spells out employees' right to collective bargainning without explaining the negative impacts of unionization, and a complaint seeking to force The Boeing Company to relocate an airline production facility from South Carolina (a right-to-work state) to Washington State.
In its ongoing mission to shape policies that make it easer for job creators to grow their businesses, workforce and the economy in general, the PA Chamber is committed to stopping NLRB and other agencies from misusing their authority, and to restoring balance to federal and state labor laws.
The PA Chamber is urging the U.S. Senate to pass the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act.
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Founded in 1916, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is the state's largest broad-based business association, with its membership comprising businesses of all sizes and across all industry sectors. The PA Chamber is The Statewide Voice of Business.
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