Posts tagged blocking charges
Op-ed: Labor Board Must Fix Blocking Charges to Protect Employee Choice
June 17, 2026 // When employees sought representation, the NLRB emphasized speed to capture employee sentiment before it dissipated. But when employees sought to remove or test support for an incumbent union, blocking charges made by the union could postpone a vote for years while allegations, valid or not, are investigated, tried, appealed, or supplemented by new charges. That asymmetry is difficult to square with the act’s protection of a two-way street. Changes in neither 2020 nor 2024 produced a system that reliably safeguards employee free choice. The current NLRB can fix this long-standing problem by closing loopholes, ensuring employees can vote promptly, and taking responsibility for decisions that prevent ballots from being counted.
Coalition to Protect American Workers and I4AW’s Michael Alcorn: Petition for Rulemaking — Blocking Charges in Representation Proceedings
June 17, 2026 // The requested rule is straightforward: unfair labor practice charges should not postpone elections, dismiss petitions, or indefinitely prevent employees from voting on whether they wish to be represented by a labor organization. The Board should require elections to proceed promptly; eliminate merit-determination dismissals and other regional workarounds based on unadjudicated charges; permit temporary ballot impoundment only by written Board order under a demanding standard; and require the Board to act on any regional impoundment request within 30 days. If the Board does not issue an impoundment order within that period, the case should return to the Region and the ballots should be opened and counted.
Commentary: Short-Term Gains, Long-Term Harm: The Real Cost of Union Monopoly Power
May 22, 2026 // The Mercatus paper's survey findings cut against the union narrative in ways that should matter to anyone who follows labor policy. When asked directly, workers say they prefer unions that cooperate with management over unions that are more powerful but adversarial. They prefer having multiple options for representation rather than one organization with legal monopoly control over their workplace. And union progressive political activity and strikes, the two things union leadership most reliably prioritizes, are the only factors that consistently make workers less favorable toward organized labor.
Commentary: Mayer’s Concurrence Says What Every American Worker Already Knows
May 8, 2026 // The numbers tell the story. Workers in the original Rieth-Riley case filed their petitions in 2020. Those petitions remain dismissed to this day. Smith's petition has been in limbo for over two and a half years, with no hearing date in sight on the underlying case. As Mayer put it, "the open-ended dismissals approved in Rieth-Riley have deprived employees in case after case of any opportunity to vote in a Board-conducted election for years."
Despite Five Months of Union Delay Tactics, Ohio Dispensary Employees Win Effort to Kick Teamsters Local 413 Union Bosses Out
May 4, 2026 // Employees of Herbal Wellness Center have officially freed themselves from unwanted Teamsters Local 413 union bosses after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Regional Director of Region 9 revoked the Teamsters’ certification as the workers’ exclusive monopoly “representative.” The workers’ effort was spearheaded by dispensary employee Todd Cooper, who filed a petition for his coworkers with the NLRB last November seeking a “decertification” election to end the presence of Local 413 union officials at their workplace.
Reed & Perrine Lawn Products Workers Escape Union After Fighting Frivolous Union Delay Tactics
April 22, 2026 // After a year-and-a-half delay caused by frivolous union legal tactics, employees at Reed & Perrine Lawn Products (a division of The Andersons, Nasdaq: ANDE) have finally succeeded in removing United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 152 union officials from power at their workplace. Reed & Perrine employee Christine Bradach kicked off the effort among her coworkers to remove the UFCW union in November 2024 when she filed a decertification petition at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Bradach received free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys in filing her petition.
Two Groups of Sofitel DC Lafayette Square Hotel Employees Officially Win Efforts to Free Themselves of Unwanted Unions
March 12, 2026 // Two separate groups of employees of Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square have prevailed in their battle to free themselves from the “representation” of Unite Here Local 25 and International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 99 union officials. Their victories were cemented after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) officially certified the results of their votes to remove the unions. Sofitel Lafayette employee Mwandu Chibwe spearheaded the Unite Here “decertification” effort for the more than 60 food service workers, front of house workers, room attendants, and other hospitality workers. The engineers’ and painters’ decertification of IUOE Local 99 was led by Yuri Lishchenko. Both workers received free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.
Letter to NLRB General Counsel Crystal Carey: Refocusing Federal Labor Policy on Worker Choice and Due Process
March 11, 2026 // The Coalition to Protect American Workers (CPAW) and the Institute for the American Worker (I4AW) today sent a joint letter to NLRB General Counsel Crystal Carey urging swift action to reverse Biden-era labor policies that erode worker choice, restrict employer free speech, and weaponize procedural tools to block workers from voting on their own representation. The letter urges General Counsel Carey to prioritize three reforms: cementing secret-ballot elections as the foundation of representation decisions; restoring Employer Meetings on Unionization so workers hear both sides before they vote; and ending blocking charges that freeze elections while investigations proceed.
The NLRB will reverse the outrages of the Biden years, but workers need Congress to protect those gains.
March 3, 2026 // Workers have labored under these unjust policies for nearly a century. They deserve better. In the short run, the NLRB can help American workers by reversing the Biden rulings that strengthen unions and restrain businesses at workers’ expense. The board also could end the Biden backdoor card-check scheme, prevent unions from using harassing language, and free employers to talk to workers about unionization. But a future NLRB with members appointed by another president could reverse these policies. Workers ultimately need Congress to pass better labor laws that will last.
Cannabis Workers Send UFCW Union Packing at Holistic Industries Monson Facility
February 25, 2026 // Packaging associates and delivery drivers at cannabis company Holistic Industries’ Monson plant have successfully removed United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union officials from their workplace. The victory comes after a majority of Holistic employees backed a petition asking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to administer a vote to remove the UFCW union from the facility (also known as a union “decertification” vote). Scott Browne, a Holistic packaging associate, submitted the petition with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.