August 6, 2015
By Steve Wishnia and Nea Tepel
A federal court in Washington, D.C., on July 29 upheld National Labor Relations Board rules intended to speed up unionization elections, rejecting a challenge by the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups. The plaintiffs claimed the rules would subject employers to “ambush elections.”
District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson held that their arguments that the rules violated other federal laws and the Constitution “do not withstand close inspection,” so all that was left was “a significant policy disagreement” with the NLRB. "So far, every judge to consider a challenge to the rules has rejected the challenge and found that the rules are legal and within the National Labor Relations Board's authority,” AFL-CIO spokesperson Carolyn Bobb said in a statement. Unions say the rules are necessary to prevent employers from deliberately delaying unionization votes. Read more
