House Passes Resolution to Stop NLRB Ambush Election Rule

On March 19, the House of Representatives adopted the Congressional Review Act (CRA) Resolution, by a voice vote of 232-186, to block the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from implementing the "ambush election" rule. The CRA was introduced by House Education & Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) along with House Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Phil Poe (R-TN) and mirrors the Senate measure that passed earlier this month (53-46) offered by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Mike Enzi (R-WY). The CRA will now head to the President’s desk where he is expected to issue a veto.

The "ambush election" rule, finalized by the NLRB in December 2014, becomes effective on April 14, 2015 and implements sweeping changes to union elections. It allows a labor union to hold an election in as few as 11 days – the current election is held in an average of 38 days -- after the Board receives an election petition, prevents workers from receiving balanced information from both sides of the bargaining table and requires employers to disclose their employees’ personal contact information. NRMCA, along with members of the Coalition of Democratic Workforce (CDW), sent a letter to members of Congress supporting the Congressional Review Act in order to stop the NLRB from implementing this rule and educated members of Congress and their staff on the negative impacts of this rule on the ready mixed concrete industry. In addition, the CDW previously filed a federal lawsuit to block the ambush-election rule.  NRMCA supports the lawsuit.