Marathon Pundit: Dems in Senate side with radical NLRB in support of ambush elections

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Dems in Senate side with radical NLRB in support of ambush elections

The radical National Labor Relations Board wants to foist union 'ambush elections' on America's job creators. Isn't our economy dealing with enough struggles?

The final vote--60 were needed to pass the Republican anti-ambush bill--was 55-44. Barring an unexpected reversal, the NLRB rule will take effect Monday. The Democrats, joined by Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, were unanimous in supporting the NLRB and Big Labor.

Here is what the Workforce Fairness Institute says:

Washington, D.C. (April 24, 2012) – The Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) today released the following statement in response to the U.S. Senate vote on S. J. Res. 36, a joint resolution of disapproval concerning the reckless ambush election rule recently passed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB):

"Today's vote demonstrates that the words of some elected officials in Washington, D.C. are not matched by their actions, particularly in relation to the central issue confronting our nation, job creation. The opposition some in the U.S. Senate have demonstrated to giving workers the time they need to make an informed decision on unionization free from intimidation and coercion will be difficult to explain to constituents back home," said Fred Wszolek, spokesperson for the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI). "The joint resolution of disapproval against the reckless ambush election rule enacted by President Obama’s labor board was a common sense measure that was critically important to the livelihoods of both employees and employers. At the end of the day, it’s the support of these workers and small businesses – not union bosses – that will move our nation forward and turn the nation's economy around."

Earlier today, Dan Danner, the president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business, earlier today slammed ambush elections.

Until the final rule was issued last December, employers had several weeks to prepare for a union election. Union elections typically occur about 56 days after a petition is filed—a reasonable amount of time for each side to gather and share information with employees. Now, union organizers have the ability to hold an election at a private business in as little as 10 days.

For business owners, this means they may have fewer than two weeks to obtain legal counsel to ensure that they are fairly represented in communications with employees about the consequences of unionization. Because the average small-business owner is not a labor relations expert and does not employ and in-house counsel, shortening the “critical period” before union elections is an unfair and unnecessary burden.