The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has used rulemaking only a few times through the decades. But the Board recently issued final rules that make major changes to secret ballot election petitions, particularly decertification petitions. The final rules, issued April 1, 2020, make three major changes:(1) Ending the controversial “blocking charge” policy that allowed unions to unilaterally halt secret ballot elections by filing unfair labor practice charges alleging employer violations of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). (2) Reinstating the rule of Dana Corp., 351 NLRB 434 (2007), which allows employees to call for a secret ballot election after an employer voluntarily recognizes a union pursuant to a “card-check." The Dana rule had been in effect until it was overruled by the Board in Lamons Gasket Co., 357 NLRB 739 (2011).(3) A construction industry employer and union may no longer bar an employee’s election petition if they converted their Section 8(f) bargaining relationship into a Section 9(a) “exclusive representation” relationship without proof of majority employee support for the union. All of these new rules recognize that secret ballot elections are the “gold standard” under the NLRA and are preferred to “card checks” and other informal processes by which unions become bargaining representatives of all employees in a bargaining unit.Aaron Solem, a Staff Attorney at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, will discuss the arguments for and against the final rules, and what these changes portend for NLRB elections and employee free choice.Featuring: -- Aaron Solem, Staff Attorney, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation

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