The National Labor Relations Board and unions have been busy. The NLRB received 3,286 union election petitions during FY 2024, up 27% since FY 2023 (when the NLRB received 2,593 petitions) and more than double the number of petitions received in FY 2021. Further, unfair labor practice charge filings are up 7% from FY 2023 (19,869 cases) to FY 2024 (21,292 cases). What does this mean? Why does this matter?
What Does This Mean?
What are the various petitions? One is the RC petition — what a union files to get an election overseen by the NLRB. If the union wins the election, it is the bargaining representative.
On the other hand, employers may file an RM election petition to seek an election either (1) because one or more individuals or unions have sought recognition as a bargaining representative or (2) based on a reasonable belief that the currently recognized union has lost its majority status. Employees can also file an RD petition to remove a current union as the bargaining representative.
Basically, if you wish to form, join, or decertify an existing union, you file an election petition.
What Caused This Spike in Petitions?
There are two potential explanations for the surge in election petitions:
First, according to Jennifer Abruzzo, general counsel for the NLRB, the uptick in union elections is likely due to workers’ increased awareness of their rights to organize and advocate for higher wages, better benefits and working conditions, and increased job security. While many may disagree with this explanation, it is undeniable that in the past few years we have seen organizing efforts at several large companies, including Starbucks, Apple, Amazon.com, and Wells Fargo. Americans who are organizing and joining unions cover a number of sectors of the economy, including symphony orchestra musicians, mental health professionals, climbing gym employees, medical residency programs, cannabis workers, the Dartmouth men’s basketball team, and, most recently, the data analysts and software developers behind New York Times games like Wordle, Spelling Bee, and Connections.
Second, the NLRB’s August 2023 decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC drastically changed how employers respond to union recognition demands. Under Cemex, when a union requests recognition based on “majority support” of the employees to be in the bargaining unit, an employer has 14 days to either (1) recognize the union and bargain or (2) promptly file an RM petition with the NLRB to challenge the union’s claim of “majority support” (unless the union has already filed an RC election petition). Post-Cemex, employer-filed RM petitions experienced a sharp uptick from FY 2023 (when employers filed 62 RM petitions nationwide) to FY 2024 (with 489 RM petitions filed nationwide).
How Does This Impact Employers?
Although the current union participation rate has fallen to 10% of American workers — representing the lowest rate of unionization since the 1930s — all industries should take notice that efforts to unionize appear to be spiking in 2024. Labor relations experts say that the current trend of effective strikes and successful contract gains will inevitably inspire more strikes. Further, economic conditions and the nation’s low unemployment rate are fueling the fire by giving workers more confidence to stick their necks out and form a union or go on strike because it would be easier for them to find a new job if they lost their current one.
Unionization efforts can have significant effects on company costs and culture. Employers need to be ahead of the unionization curve and proactively create positive and productive employee relations. Not only should you train managers and supervisors on how to respond to union organizing efforts (without getting the company in trouble), you also should follow best practices such as:
- Maintaining a positive work environment;
- Being mindful of the dynamics of your workforce;
- Addressing employee concerns promptly and consistently; and
- Staying up to date on evolving NLRB standards.
This spike in election petitions may halt after President-Elect Donald Trump takes office in January 2025. Many predict that the Trump-Vance administration will alter the NLRB by, among other things, changing the NLRB’s composition and returning the NLRB RM petition framework to its pre-Cemex state.