MSCI, Coalition Weigh In Against NLRB Free Choice Rulemaking

On February 2, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), which MSCI is a member of, and 13 other employer organizations filed comments on the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) proposed rulemaking that would alter representation election processes by rescinding Trump-era policies that had ensured workers had the right to freely choose whether or not they want union representation and had guaranteed workers a secret ballot election.

As the NLRB has explained, its three-part proposal would:

• Change “blocking charge” policy so that when unfair labor practice charges are filed while an election petition is pending, a regional director could delay the election if the conduct alleged threatens to interfere with employee free choice;
• Eliminate the required notice-and-election procedure triggered by an employer’s voluntary recognition of a union based on a showing of majority support among employees; and
• Restore a six-month limitation period for election petitions challenging a construction employer’s voluntary recognition of a union under the National Labor Relations Act.

The CDW argued these changes would “negatively affect” the NLRB’s “representation case jurisprudence” and undermine the NLRB’s “statutory goals and reputation, diminish employee free choice, and upset the balance of countervailing interests.” Read the CDW’s comments here.