Legislation to Challenge NLRB Rules Introduced in Congress

Last week, a resolution was introduced in the U.S. House and Senate that would block the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) “ambush” election rule under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The highly controversial final NLRB rule revises procedures in cases where a union files a petition for an election to determine whether it will become the exclusive collective bargaining representative of a unit of workers. The effective date of the rule is April 30, 2012. The CRA establishes a special legislative process for disapproving regulations issued by federal agencies by passing a joint resolution and presidential approval. If passed and approved by the president within the next 60 days, the ambush election rule would be blocked and future efforts to reissue the rule would also be blocked. The legislative process for the CRA only requires a simple majority in the Senate, 51 votes opposed to the 60 votes that typical legislation must clear to overcome a filibuster. The resolution is likely to pass the House and because of the simple majority requirement in the Senate it is possible it could pass the Senate however presidential approval of the resolution remains unlikely. A lawsuit challenging the rule was filed by the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, of which AGC is a member, to block the rule.  AGC will continue to monitor and report on developments. For more information, please contact Jim Young at (202) 547-0133 or youngj@agc.org.