A coalition of business groups has asked the U.S. District Court in Washington to block the National Labor Relations Board from speeding up union representation elections in U.S. industries, including trucking.
The suit, which was filed by the National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Retail Federation and others, responds to a Dec. 12 move by the agency to allow elections in as few as two weeks after a request for a vote is filed.
The action comes as the Teamsters’ effort to unionize two of the three largest less-than-truckload carriers is continuing. Two more elections at FedEx Freight, the largest LTL operator, are slated for next week. To date, the union and FedEx Freight, as well as No. 3 Con-way Freight, have each won several elections, and others have been canceled.
“This rule is an unprecedented change in the union election process, which is governed by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935,” said Henry Jackson, CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, another party to the suit. “This rule is the latest and most sweeping action by the NLRB to tilt the process toward unionization and prevent employers from effectively communicating with employees.”
On average, over the past 10 years, the median time period for elections has been 38 days from the filing date to the vote, the human resource group said in a statement. In order for a vote to happen, 30% of eligible voters must sign the petition.
FedEx Freight is a unit of FedEx Corp., which ranks No. 2 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada. Con-way Inc., parent of the other carrier, is No. 4.
