Union Election Petitions on the Rise, Total Number of FY21 Petitions Eclipses in First Three Quarters of FY22

On July 13, 2022 the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) announced that by May perhaps 25^th, 2022 the variety of union illustration petitions filed with the Board surpassed the overall amount of petitions filed in all of Fiscal Yr 2021. Representation petitions are requests to have the NLRB conduct an election to figure out if personnel want to be represented by a union. During the to start with nine months of Fiscal Calendar year 2022 (Oct 1-June 30), 1,935 representation petitions ended up submitted with the Board. This signifies a 56% increase from the 1,240 filed in the first three quarters of FY2021. The Board also mentioned that, in addition to the rise in petitions, the range of unfair labor follow rates greater from 11,451 to 13,106 – 14.5% – during that identical time period.

This information confirms what many in labor circles have been dealing with for months – there is in fact a tidal wave of union organizing taking place throughout a wide spectrum of workplaces, with a lot of it coming in the retail space and progressive-leaning workplaces, wherever personnel have significantly perceived a disconnect amongst the said values of their companies and the different selections their companies are actually building. NLRB Normal Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo commented “there is a surge in labor action nationwide, with employees organizing and submitting petitions for a lot more union elections than they have in the very last ten a long time.” Amid this increase in casehandling exercise, the Board has at moments struggled to preserve pace, with Common Counsel Abruzzo highlighting the “critical funding and staffing shortages” at the Board. Although it is unclear whether or not this leap in activity basically reflects a purely natural rebound from the 14% drop in casehandling intake in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Board however anticipates a ongoing increase in exercise, as mirrored in the Board’s March 23, 2022 Justification of Performance Funds for the Committee On Appropriations for Fiscal 12 months 2023, uncovered listed here. Despite the difficult problem, Common Counsel Abruzzo reiterated the Board’s determination to conducting elections and seeking expanded solutions for unfair labor practice charges.

Developments at the NLRB are possible to carry on at a swift pace, we will watch developments in this place and give updates when pertinent.