by Douglas H. Duerr
AMBUSH
ELECTION
RULE:
2015 Issue 2 | GearedUp
What Should You
Be Doing Now?
N
26
ow that the National Labor
Relations Board’s (NLRB) new
rule shortening the time from
petition to union election has become
effective, many employers are focusing
on what they should be doing to prepare.
Why? It is no secret that the new rule is
intended to make it far easier for unions
to win elections, leaving the playing field
unbalanced in the eyes of many. While
no one can know for sure, it is widely
anticipated that unions will seize on
this and other changes by the NLRB to
make organizing easier to not only stop
the slide in the percentage of unionized
employees in the private sector, but to
reverse the trend. While some
employers may hope that this
will pass without impacting them,
others recognize that there is now an
increased risk to their business model
and are looking for inexpensive, yet
effective steps to take to reduce that risk.
While we wait to see whether unions
are successful in reversing their slide,
the best way to prepare for the new risk
is to start thinking now about: 1) how
to avoid giving employees reason to
turn to third parties, such as a union; 2)
how to recognize when a union may be
organizing your employees; and 3) what
to do when the petition is filed.
First, the best way to win an election, even under the new rules, is to take
steps that are likely to demonstrate that
employees have no need to turn to a
union (i.e., avoid organizing altogether).
This requires attention to good employee
relations. For example, do you offer
competitive wages for the area and type
of work? Do you make sure that you,