About NLRB
Organization Chart
Division of Judges
The NLRB's Administrative Law Judges docket, hear, settle and decide unfair labor practice cases nationwide, operating through offices in Washington, New York, and San Francisco.
Background to election procedures rulemaking
On June 21, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board, Member Hayes dissenting, proposed reforms of the procedures it follows prior and subsequent to conducting a secret ballot election to determine if employees wish to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining. The proposed amendments are intended to reduce unnecessary litigation, streamline pre- and post-election procedures, and facilitate the use of electronic communications and document filing.
Boeing complaint background
On March 26, 2010, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, District Lodge 751, filed a charge with the NLRB alleging that the Boeing Company had engaged in multiple unfair labor practices related to its decision to place a second production line for the 787 Dreamliner airplane in a non-union facility.
Specifically, the union charged that the decision to transfer the line was made to retaliate against union employees for participating in past strikes and to chill future strike activity, which is protected under the National Labor Relations Act.
The Right to Strike
Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) states in part, “Employees shall have the right. . . to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.” Strikes are included among the concerted activities protected for employees by this section. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the right of employees to go on strike whether they have a union or not. Specifically, in 1962, the Supreme Court in NLRB v.
The main steps in the representation case process under the proposed amendments
Under the proposed amendments, a typical representation case in which a union seeks to represent an unrepresented unit of employees would proceed this way (if the union and the employer were not able to reach an election agreement):
Statement by Chairman Wilma B. Liebman on Representation-Case Procedures Rulemaking
One of the most important duties of the National Labor Relations Board is conducting secret-ballot elections to determine whether employees want to be represented by a labor union. Resolving representation questions quickly, fairly, and accurately has been an overriding goal of American labor law for more than 75 years. Under the law, as the Supreme Court has explained, the Board is responsible for the rules that govern representation cases.