The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) renders decisions in relation to the many unfair practice cases that the public presents. Section 8a of the NLRB states that it is against the law for employers to constrain or coerce their workers while they are on the job. The NLRB received about 510 labor practice cases in 2010, with accusations of discrimination against union-related activity making almost half of the submitted cases. Employers did not negotiate in good faith in the other 50% of the cases. Every person is free to present their allegations of unfair labor practices under the NLRB regulations. The cases should be filed with the regional director of the board not more than six months after the party has been affected. After the charge is filed, it is first investigated by the agent to the general counsel where it is analyzed before being forwarded to the court for judgment.

Case study example

An example of a case analyzed by NLRB was Case No. 01-RC-186442, which involved Harvard Graduate Students Union-UAW as the petitioners and President and Fellows of Harvard College and the employer. The petitioner provided their petitions that the election process was unfair. The first issue is that both parties had agreements on the terms of election on 21st October, 2016 but the election was held on November 2016. After elections, there were delays in counting the ballots where the process was done on 22nd December, 2016. After the ballots were counted, there were 272 votes in support of the representation, 1456 against representation, and 314 were counted as challenged ballots. The union thus objected the elections stating that the employer had not complied with the Excelsior rule since a number of eligible voters were omitted from the list at the time of election.

After the representations were made by the petitioner

After the representations were made by the petitioner, a hearing was held and the hearing officer ruled on the missing voters and challenged ballots. The employer was given time to file an exception and the group submitted their voting records. Once the petitions were forwarded, the regional director gave an authorization that all the challenged votes be opened and a new tally to be done. If the tally of the ballots does not tally with the results of the majority of votes cast, then a new election had to be conducted. The employer was not in agreement with the decision and requested for a petition of the regional director’s decision.

The NLRA listened to both parties

The NLRA listened to both parties and ensured that their judgment was free and fair for both the petitioner and the employer. The director thus issued a direction on the repeat of elections on 7th July 2017. The repeat of the election may not be valid since there were some errors made during the ruling from the Regional Director’s direction. It is necessary for the board to have correct data information that will be presented to the case parties and the public. The Errata issued provided that there was a name “Carolina San Miguel” inserted in another person’s name. Also, the decision had used the word sustain in place of an appropriate word that should have been used “overrule”. The number count in the data summary of the case had an error since the decision used 533 and not 530.

Summary of NLRA responsibilities

From the different judgments and rulings made by the NLRA, their major role is to protect the rights of the employees and the union from being violated by the employer. The NLRA ensures that members of staff in an organization have a right to vote their union members fairly. For example, from the case presented by union members of Harvard, the employer did not support the election process thus there were errors and fraud activities in the process. Employers should not discriminate members of a union where they receive unfair treatment as compared to other employees (Lisa Guerin). The NLRA also provides that a member should not hit back at an employee for filling a charge to the board.

Other than protecting the employees

Other than protecting the employees, the board also ensures that the union staff and employees do not take advantage of their rights and act in negative influence. The employees should respect all the terms and requirements made at the time of employment. As much as the NLRA gives the employees rights to file a case, the members should have enough evidence and resources for the case. Union members are also requested to be united with other staff members who are non-union and should not threaten them for not joining the union (Lisa Guerin). Union members should not present their grievances by engaging in boycotts and strike which are for illegal purposes. All parties should not have a “hot cargo agreement” for purposes of eliminating the strike or bribing the party that had presented legal charges to the NLRA. From Harvard’s case against the employer, the members engaged in an open discussion in court for unfair elections done. NLRA ensured that the employer had time to present their filings to defend their charges.

Works Cited

Lisa Guerin, J.D. Unfair Labor Practices: Certain actions by employers or unions are illegal under federal labor law. 2017, https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/unfair-labor- practices.html. Accessed 16 Nov. 2017

National Labor Relations Board . “President and Fellows of Harvard College.” 2016, https://www.nlrb.gov/case/01-RC-186442. Accessed 16 Nov. 2017

NLRB, n.d. National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations www.nlrb.gov. Accessed 16 Nov. 2017