Employers should take note of recent spike in union organizing activity

In the first quarter of 2022, unions filed more than 550 election petitions in the United States, compared with only 290 in the first quarter of 2021. It’s the largest first-quarter number filed in the past seven years. While part of the increase can be attributed to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which has filed dozens of petitions at Starbucks facilities throughout the country, many believe COVID-19 pandemic-induced labor market issues and the rise of worker autonomy have created an opportunity for organized labor.

Bracing for new NLRB pressure

On April 11, 2022, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel (GC) Jennifer Abruzzo filed a brief in an ongoing case involving the Teamsters union and Cemex Construction Materials Pacific Inc. In it, she urged the NLRB to reinstate a doctrine established in the 1949 case of Joy Silk Mills Inc. Under the doctrine, which was overturned in 1969, the Board allowed a union to be recognized without an election if a majority of workers signed authorization cards.

Reinstating the doctrine, needless to say, would be a dangerous precedent. It would mean employees who sign authorization cards because of pressure from others and/or after hearing only the sales talk and nonbinding promises from union pushers may find themselves represented by a union with no easy way out. They would not have received any information on the facts, laws, and potential risks associated with union representation.