Forget the Election: Union Representation Without the Messy Election is the Next Labor Law Reality, Part I

In Part One of this discussion, Husch Blackwell partners Tom O’Day and Tyler Paetkau join Labor Law Insider Host Tom Godar to analyze the NLRB’s Cemex decision, which announced a radical new framework for determining when employers are required to bargain with unions without a representation election.Nearly any unfair labor practice—and certainly a series of even minor ULPs committed during an election period—will likely force an employer to recognize and bargain with a union, even if a majority of the employees vote against union representation. Employers will be forced to engage in a much more circumspect campaign opposing union organization, given the high risk of a bargaining order being imposed upon the employer.Part Two of the discussion will focus on this significant change, which, along with other pro-union NLRB decisions over the last 36 months, fundamentally alters employers’ approach and likelihood of success in winning union elections. In Part Two, Tom and Tyler offer some suggestions on how to win an election before one is ever filed.