According to an analysis of National Labor Relations Board data by the Bureau of National Affairs, fewer workers are using the NLRB election process to organize. Instead, 70 percent of the private-sector workers who formed unions in 2005 did so through majority sign-up agreements.
These agreements help eliminate aggressive anti-union campaigns by employers and drawn-out legal appeals associated with the NLRB election process.
In 2005, there were 2,117 elections supervised by the NLRB, down from 2,361 in 2004, a 10 percent decrease. Likewise, only 63,744 workers organized through the NLRB election process in 2005, down from 84,380 in 2004, a drop of nearly 25 percent.
In 2003, there were 2,348 NLRB-supervised elections in which 77,335 employees gained union representation. In 2002, the board oversaw 2,724 elections in which 81,315 workers gained unions.
"Clearly, workers have learned that the NLRB election process does not adequately protect their right to form unions and bargain collectively," the AFL-CIO noted in responding to the report. "That's why we need the Employee Free Choice Act, which would strengthen protections for workers' freedom to choose by requiring employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers signs cards authorizing union representation."
Reprinted from the AFL-CIO website, www.aflcio.org
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According to an analysis of National Labor Relations Board data by the Bureau of National Affairs, fewer workers are using the NLRB election process to organize. Instead, 70 percent of the private-sector workers who formed unions in 2005 did so through majority sign-up agreements.
These agreements help eliminate aggressive anti-union campaigns by employers and drawn-out legal appeals associated with the NLRB election process.
In 2005, there were 2,117 elections supervised by the NLRB, down from 2,361 in 2004, a 10 percent decrease. Likewise, only 63,744 workers organized through the NLRB election process in 2005, down from 84,380 in 2004, a drop of nearly 25 percent.
In 2003, there were 2,348 NLRB-supervised elections in which 77,335 employees gained union representation. In 2002, the board oversaw 2,724 elections in which 81,315 workers gained unions.
“Clearly, workers have learned that the NLRB election process does not adequately protect their right to form unions and bargain collectively,” the AFL-CIO noted in responding to the report. “That’s why we need the Employee Free Choice Act, which would strengthen protections for workers’ freedom to choose by requiring employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers signs cards authorizing union representation.”
Reprinted from the AFL-CIO website, www.aflcio.org