The NLRB putsch

Originally floated in June as a proposed rule-making, the plan would shorten to as little as 10 to 14 days the period between the time a union seeks an election to organize a work site and the election date. Under current rules, companies typically have five to six weeks to make their case to employees before the union holds a secret-ballot election. The Becker-Pearce putsch would give labor organizers months to quietly pitch workers, then give targeted companies less than two weeks to react and make their own case before a quickie election.

This is Big Labor’s version of speed dating, and no wonder. Union membership is down to some 7% of the private workforce, and falling. Fewer workers want to join unions as they see what has happened to the competitiveness of union-dominated industries. Labor’s response is to rig the rules so that companies have little time and fewer resources to educate workers about the risks posed by unions. When unions couldn’t get a “card check” bill banning secret-ballot elections through even a Democratic Congress, they turned to the NLRB for this and other dirty work…

If Mr. Hayes resigned from the NLRB before Wednesday’s vote, then the two Democrats would have a harder time ignoring the law. It’s a disgrace that an NLRB member should have to contemplate resignation to prevent an abuse of regulatory process, but Mr. Hayes deserves support if he does. A resignation would draw attention to the way the power of this supposedly nonpartisan agency is being twisted to save unions from the consequences of their antibusiness excesses.