Blog
Courts Once Again Rule Against NLRB
- By: Shannon Davison
- On: 06/18/2013 11:46:27
- In: Legislative Bulletins
In a victory for TRALA members and the entire business community, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overstepped its bounds when it required employers to post a notice of employee rights to unionize. The court's decision, issued on June 14, 2013, reaffirmed the ruling from the District Court of South Carolina as well as agreed with a ruling issued on May 7, 2013 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that also struck down the posting requirements.
The NLRB told the court that it introduced the rule to fill a "knowledge gap" and educate employees as to their National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) rights. The Fourth Circuit Court however disagreed, saying that the NLRA does not require employers who have not committed any labor law violations to be subjected to such a rulemaking. The court said, "The NLRB serves expressly reactive roles: conducting representation elections and resolving ULP (unfair labor practice) charges."
The court added that nowhere within the NLRA does it give the NLRB the authority to issue a notice-posting rule as Congress had done so explicitly for other agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Fourth Circuit stated, "Had Congress intended to grant the NLRB the power to require the posting of employee rights notices, it could have amended the NLRA to do so."
TRALA, through the CDW Coalition, has consistently opposed the notice-posting rule as yet another pro-union tactic being applied by the Administration to make it easier for any company's emloyees to unionize. Issues such as the notice-posting rule, micro-unions, and ambush elections are all intended to discard decades worth of labor law in an attempt to increase union rolls. TRALA welcomes yet another court's decision to strike down the notice-posting rule.
For questions, please contact TRALA's Jake Jacoby at jjacoby@trala.org or by calling (703) 299-9120.