ICYMI: Reuters: NLRB paves way for workers to unionize without formal elections
EDITOR'S NOTE: "Elections have consequences," Kentucky State AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan often says. Donald Trump's NLRB waged and all-out assault on workers' rights. President Joe Biden's NLRB resurrected workers' rights. Londrigan cited the Cemex case in today's state executive board meeting.
By DANIEL WIESSNER
Aug 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. National Labor Relations Board on Friday resurrected key elements of a policy it eliminated more than 50 years ago requiring businesses that commit labor law violations to bargain with unions without holding formal elections.
The board's 3-1 decision in a case involving building materials company Cemex Construction Materials could provide a major boost to unions by allowing them to represent workers in certain cases when a majority sign cards in support of unionizing, rather than going through the lengthy and often litigious election process.
In Friday's decision, the Democrat-led board partially revived a doctrine known as Joy Silk, named for a 1949 case in which the NLRB said employers must bargain with unions unless they have a good-faith doubt that majority support exists.