Employees Reject Union In One of the First NLRB “Quickie Elections”

In one of the first NLRB elections conducted by the Board under its new “quickie election” rules, truck drivers employed by a Baltimore-based distribution company rejected representation by Teamsters 355, by a vote of 16 to 6.  Stephen Shawe and Michael McGuire represented the company in proceedings before the NLRB and during the course of the Board-shortened campaign period.  The Union filed its Petition with the Board on April 16 – just one day after the new rules went into effect – and the election was conducted just 21 days later, on May 7.

The NLRB’s new quickie-election rules have, as a general rule of thumb, cut in half the amount of time that is available to an employer to communicate its views to employees on the important issue of unions and collective bargaining.  Training managers and supervisors in advance about unions is all the more critical in light of the short time frame afforded by the NLRB for a campaign.