Passage of House Bill to Block NLRB’s Ambush Election Rule Will Protect Employer, Employee Rights

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) released the following statement on the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of a joint resolution to block the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) ambush election rule.

“We are encouraged by today’s vote in the House led by Chairman Kline and urge President Obama to support this resolution, which will take a big step toward protecting both the due process rights of employers and the privacy rights of employees,” said ABC Vice President of Government Affairs Geoff Burr. “This failed policy from the NLRB is designed to suppress employers’ voices during union organizing campaigns, which is not only unfair to employers but also to employees who deserve the opportunity to hear from both sides and make a well-informed decision on whether or not to join a labor union.

“This latest example of the NLRB’s devolution into a relentless advocate for Big Labor’s agenda is particularly troubling,” said Burr. “ABC has long been a vocal opponent of the ambush rule and we hope the President takes action to protect workplace rights by signing this resolution.”

Under the ambush election rule, the amount of time between when a union files a representation petition and an election takes place will be dramatically reduced from the current average of 38 days to as few as 14 calendar days. In addition, the rule shortens the amount of time an employer is allotted to provide a list of eligible voters and adds to the amount of employee personal contact information that must be disclosed to unions. The changes are scheduled to take effect April 14, 2015.

ABC of Texas and the Central Texas Chapter of ABC Jan. 13 filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas seeking to overturn the latest version of the NLRB’s ambush election rule. ABC has consistently opposed the NLRB’s ambush election rule as unfair to employers and employees and has raised privacy concerns over the proposal’s distribution of employees’ personal contact information, including in testimony before the NLRB in April 2014.

The joint resolution was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) and the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).