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Republican Senator Introduces Legislation to Repeal "Ambush Election" Rule


Recently, Republican Senator Lamar Alexander (who is also Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) introduced legislation to repeal the "ambush election" rule which came into existence during the Obama administration.  The rule, frequently criticized by Republicans and pro-employer groups, aimed to speed up the union election process by restricting court challenges prior to an election.  Under this rule, a union election can occur in as little as 11 days...a far cry from the prior 25 day delay that normally occurred between the time a regional director directed an election and the election itself actually occurring.  Critics of this rule have continually pointed out that this small time frame gives employers little notice to figure out what is going on before the election even occurs.  Consequently, employers are given little time to prepare for a union election and potentially fight the unionization, if they so choose.  The rule further provides that employers must provide union organizers with all available personal addresses and phone numbers for workers who are eligible to vote.

Under Senator Alexander's proposed legislation, the minimum amount of time necessary to conduct union elections would be lengthened to 35 days.  In addition, to protect employees' privacy, Alexander's legislation further dictates that the NLRB would determine the appropriate group of employees to include in the union before the union's certification.  Further, employers would be given at least 7 days to provide a list of employee names and one additional piece of contact information.  (Under the current rule, as written, employers are now required to provide names, cell phone numbers, and potentially even work schedules...even if the employee chose to reject unionization).

Of course, this bill is still in the early stages of working its way through Congress.  However, with Republicans having majority control of Congress (and chairing the related committees), this bill might stand a chance if Republicans can move the bill along and have its members vote along party lines. The question is whether any Democrats would join?


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