Trump NLRB election rule betrays workers

The Trump National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a direct final rule last month that will make it harder for workers who want a union in their workplace to demand a fair election.

The new rule adds unnecessary delay to the union election process.

The NLRB acted without providing the public with notice or the opportunity to comment. Under the current system:

• Employers are charged with violating the law in 41.5 percent of all NLRB-supervised elections.
• Employers are charged with illegally firing workers in 20 to 30 percent of ALL NLRB-supervised elections.

This rule does nothing to address these issues and instead gives employers more time to threaten, coerce, and retaliate against workers trying to organize.

This is just the most recent example of the Trump NLRB elevating corporate interests above those of working people.

Here are a few other examples:

• Systematically rolled back workers’ rights to form unions and engage in collective bargaining with their employers, to the detriment of workers, their communities, and the economy.
• Issued a series of significant decisions weakening worker protections under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA/Act).
• The board has engaged in an unprecedented number of rulemakings aimed at overturning existing worker protections.
• The Trump NLRB General Counsel has advanced policies that leave fewer workers protected by the NLRA and has advocated for changes in the law that roll back workers’ rights.

It’s up to Congress to hold the Trump NLRB accountable and prioritize legislative reforms — like the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act — that will help restore the original promise of our nation’s Labor law—encouraging and promoting the formation of unions and the practice of collective bargaining.