National Labor Relations Board�

REGION 7

DETROIT AND GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

PRESENTATION FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN CENTER FOR LABOR AND COMMUNITY STUDIES

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By the Numbers�Representation Cases Agency-Wide

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By the Numbers �Representation Cases �Region 7

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How Fast to Election?

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Resources

Staffing and Intake

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• Region 7 currently has approximately 700 open unfair labor practice cases.
• 12 full-time and 3 part-time employees are processing these cases.
• These numbers would equate to roughly 47 open cases per agent.
• This is too many cases per agent to process, and so the Region has to focus its resources on the most urgent/impactful cases first.
• These resource issues cause delays in efficient and effective case processing.

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SIGNIFICANT BOARD DECISIONS IMPACTING UNION ORGANIZING

“Game changer…”��“…a radical decision…”��“Unions score big win…”��“…drastic departure of established legal precedent…”��“Good news for workers…”��“Union busting just got a lot harder…”��“…dramatic…”��“…wipes out decades of precedent…”����

Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC, 372 NLRB No. 130 (August 25, 2023)�

The Board announced a new framework for determining when employers are required to bargain with unions without a representation election. Under the new framework, when a union requests recognition on the basis that a majority of employees have designated the union as their representative, an employer must either recognize and bargain with the union or promptly file an RM petition seeking an election. However, if an employer who seeks an election commits any unfair labor practice that would require setting aside the election, the petition will be dismissed and rather than re-running the election, the Board will order the employer to recognize and bargain with the union.

Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC, 372 NLRB No. 130 (August 25, 2023)�

Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC, 372 NLRB No. 130 (August 25, 2023)�

• https://twitter.com/i/status/1732777468338077929

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Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC, 372 NLRB No. 130 (August 25, 2023)�

• More Cemex Guidance is available in GC 24-01, Guidance in Response to Inquiries about the Board’s Decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC
• You can find this and other helpful info on our website at www.nlrb.gov

SIGNIFICANT BOARD DECISIONS

American Steel Construction, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 23 (December 14, 2022)

In this decision, the Board modified the test used to determine whether additional employees must be included in a petitioned-for unit in order to render it an appropriate bargaining unit. The decision returns the Board to its prior test governing such determinations, as set forth in Specialty Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center of Mobile, 357 NLRB 934 (2011), overruling PCC Structurals, 365 NLRB No. 160 (2017), and The Boeing Co., 368 NLRB No. 67 (2019). Employees in the petitioned-for unit must be “readily identifiable as a group” and share a “community of interest.” However, where a party argues that a proposed unit meeting these criteria must include additional employees, the Board reaffirmed that the burden is on that party to show that the excluded employees share an “overwhelming community of interest” to mandate their inclusion in the bargaining unit.

Other Developments Impacting Organizing

• GC 22-04 – The Right to Refrain from Captive Audience and other Mandatory Meetings
• 2023 Election Rule Representation Case Procedure Changes (eff. 12/26/23)
• GC 23-02 – Electronic Monitoring and Algorithmic Management of Employees Interfering with the Exercise of Section 7 Rights

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• GC 22-02 Seeking 10(j) Injunctions in Response to Unlawful Threats or Other Coercion During Union Organizing Campaigns
• GC 21-08 – Statutory Rights of Players at Academic Institutions (Student-Athletes) Under the National Labor Relations Act
• Joint Employer Rule (eff. 2/26/24)
• OM 22-09 – Ensuring Safe and Dignified Access for Immigrant Workers to NLRB Processes and GC 22-01, Ensuring Rights and Remedies for Immigrant Workers Under the NLRA.

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Thank you!