On July 16, the UAW and Nissan entered into a Stipulated Election Agreement with the NLRB. Under the Agreement, the UAW agreed that only the production and maintenance workers employed directly by Nissan would be able to vote. The Agreement excludes from the bargaining unit “temporary employees” and “contract employees,” and specifically excludes those workers employed by Kelly Services and MINACT. The actual unit description is as follows:
Included: All full-time and regular part-time production and maintenance employees, including leads, employed by Nissan North America, Inc., at its facility located at 300 Nissan Drive, Canton, MS 39046-8562. Excluded: All other employees, temporary employees, contract employees, including, but not limited to, those individuals employed by Kelly Services and MINACT, office clerical employees, managerial employees, professional employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act, as amended.
Thus, with this election, the UAW is seeking to represent only those production and maintenance workers employed directly by Nissan, about 3,500 workers.
Under the Election Agreement, the NLRB-supervised, secret ballot election will be held on Thursday, August 3, and Friday, August 4, with the polls open on both days at the following times (Central Time): 2:00 a.m. ‒ 6:00 a.m.; 7:00 a.m. ‒ 1:00 p.m.; and 2:00 p.m. ‒ 7:00 p.m.
The vote count is scheduled to begin just after 7:00 p.m. (Central Time) on Friday, August 4.
After entering the Election Agreement, the UAW filed additional unfair labor practice charges against Nissan. Among them, the UAW alleges that Nissan management threatened to close the plant if the UAW wins. Nissan management denies the allegations.
If it loses the election, the UAW could use these allegations to argue that the NLRB should overturn the election and issue a bargaining order. A bargaining order requires that an employer recognize and bargain with the union, despite the union’s election loss.