Garamendi Praises Labor Relations Proposed Voting Rules

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman John Garamendi (D-Walnut Creek, CA) today issued a statement in strong support of the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) proposed rule changes to regulations governing labor union representation:

"These NLRB rules would help ensure that both employers and employees have a seat at the negotiating table," said Garamendi. "By averting lawsuits and misunderstandings, these commonsense reforms provide certainty at the workplace and improve labor-management relations. By strengthening the ability of America's industrious workers to freely decide on whether to join a union, this rule strengthens our middle class and helps us to, once again, Make It In America."

If finally adopted after a public notice-and-comment process, the proposed amendments would:

• Allow for electronic filing of election petitions and other documents.
• Ensure that employees, employers and unions receive and exchange timely information they need to understand and participate in the representation case process.
• Standardize timeframes for parties to resolve or litigate issues before and after elections.
• Require parties to identify issues and describe evidence soon after an election petition is filed to facilitate resolution and eliminate unnecessary litigation.
• Defer litigation of most voter eligibility issues until after the election.
• Require employers to provide a final voter list in electronic form soon after the scheduling of an election, including voters' telephone numbers and email addresses when available.
• Consolidate all election-related appeals to the Board into a single post-election appeals process and thereby eliminate delay in holding elections currently attributable to the possibility of pre-election appeals.
• Make Board review of post-election decisions discretionary rather than mandatory.