State Labor Leaders Say Recent Changes by National Labor Relations Board Make it Easier to Wisconsinites to Unionize

Thursday, September 28th, 2023 -- 11:01 AM

(By Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio) State labor leaders say recent changes by the National Labor Relations Board will make it easier for Wisconsinites to unionize, especially in the service industry.

According to Joe Schulz with Wisconsin Public Radio, last month, the National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB, issued a decision establishing a new framework for deciding when companies are required to bargain with unions without a formal election.

Labor groups across Wisconsin, including the state AFL-CIO, the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization and the Fox Valley Area Labor Council, say the NLRB's recent actions will help reverse the trend of declining unionization.

"Making the path to unionization more fair and living up to its expectation in the United States is really important for all workers," said Stephanie Bloomingdale, president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO. "Having a speedier election, dissuading employers from using union-busting tactics, are all going to be to the betterment of workers."

Under the new NLRB framework, companies caught using unfair labor practices during the election process will be forced to negotiate with a union, rather than rerunning the election that could establish the union.

When a majority of workers express interest in joining a union in written cards, the employer is required to immediately bargain with the union or seek an election. The change isn't unprecedented and stems from a case in the 1960s, according to Michael Childers, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Workers.

"What they're basically saying now is that, if any unfair labor practice is found to have occurred after an employer asks for an election, then they don't need to have the election. The union will just be recognized and bargaining should commence," he said. "That absolutely could have some impact on unions being formed in the private sector."

The NLRB also adopted another rule last month aimed at speeding up the election process. But that rule won’t take effect until Dec. 26. This reverts the union election process to what it was in 2014 and reverse changes made in 2019 under the Trump Administration, Childers said.

"What those changes in 2014 sought to do is to update these rules to be more in line with the way things are today," he said. "Those changes were made to make it a more expeditious process to avoid having long delays before workers would be able to vote 'yes' or 'no' on whether they wanted to have a bargaining unit."

The rule changes by the federal agency tasked with protecting the rights of private-sector workers to organize come after Wisconsin's union membership fell to its lowest levels since at least 1989 last year and as recent national polling has shown unions have become more popular than they've been in over a half-century.

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