With all eyes riveted on the public-sector union debates in Wisconsin and other states, the NLRB in Washington is still toiling away to provide every possible advantage to Big Labor. We mentioned in our last issue of INK the prospect of “micro-unions,” or the ability of unions to carve out pre-determined smaller groups of employees, similar to what occurs in the healthcare industry already. In a National Review Online article, former NLRB member Peter Kirsanow outlined what the Specialty Healthcare decision (still being considered by the board) could mean to employers. In his view, the change could: • Make it much easier for unions to organize a workplace…The new standard would permit a union to cherry-pick only those employees it believes support the union • Increase the probability that a workplace will have multiple bargaining units representing different classifications of employees; e.g., one unit of, say, two set-up men, another unit of six press operators, yet another unit of three welders, a separate unit of four packers, etc. etc. • Increase the probability that a company’s employees will be represented by — and the company must bargain with — multiple unions, e.g., the UAW in one part of the plant, the Teamsters in another, and the SEIU in a third. • Increase the probability that an employer would have to manage separate work schedules, grievance procedures, wage schedules, and benefits packages for various bargaining units in a single workplace. • Increase the man-hours a company spends on personnel matters such as discipline, grievances, arbitration, and bargaining. In the midst of the ruckus over the NFL dispute, Nancy Cleeland, director of the NLRB’s Office of Public Affairs let slip another confirmation that the NLRB may be moving toward electronic voting. NFL.com posted this from Cleeland addressing the issue of decertification elections, “Voting potentially could be done via voting booths, by mail and also over the internet, Cleeland said . . . .” In a noble attempt that probably doesn’t stand a snowballs chance of escaping filibuster, Senator Jim DeMint introduced a national Right-To-Work bill. Back in DeMint’s home state of South Carolina, Republicans introduced a measure aimed at defeating the NLRB’s proposal to mandate posting a union-favored description of workers rights under the National Labor Relations Act ( we did a teleconference on this one). Bill sponsor Rep. Alan Clemmons said of the proposed posting rule, “I have a visceral objection to employers being forced to espouse rhetoric they don’t support.” Governor Nikki Haley concurred, saying, “We are not going to post posters that encourage unions. It’s ridiculous… No, we don’t need to be posting posters up there that say, ‘Oh, guess what? There are unions our there.’ I think it sends a bad message.”
