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WASHINGTON - Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., today voted in favor of a disapproval resolution seeking to stop the National Labor Relations Board from overturning decades of precedent and dramatically altering long-standing policies governing union elections. The measure passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 232-186.

“Yet again the National Labor Relations Board is using the federal regulatory process to tip the scales toward union organizers,” said Foxx. “The ‘ambush election’ rule is just the latest in a series of outrageous actions seeking to jeopardize the relationship between workers and employers and upend a carefully crafted process for organizing elections that has existed for decades. This rule constrains the rights of workers to make informed decisions, severely hampers employers’ rights to speak to their employees during union organizing campaigns and weakens the privacy rights of workers.”

NLRB released the so-called “ambush election” rule in December 2014 and it is scheduled to take effect on April 14. The rule would require employers to provide union organizers with employees' names, phone numbers, emails and mailing addresses without any mechanism for workers to opt-out, which Foxx believes is a clear violation of their privacy.

Additionally the rule would shorten the time between when a petition is filed and the day workers vote as well as postpone decisions about who is eligible to participate. As a result, union representation elections could be held within only 11 days without providing any certainty over who should be participating or giving employers sufficient time to prepare. 

Under the rule, employers would have only eight days to find experienced legal representation before facing a hearing and would be required to file an in-depth “Statement of Position” within seven days of receiving a petition for election. Many companies, particularly small businesses, do not have in-house counsel and would not be prepared to respond within the short timeframe.

Important review procedures would be set aside by this rule as well, including the opportunity for review of decisions made prior to the election by the NLRB.  The board’s requirement for review of post-election disputes would be made discretionary, limiting oversight.

The Congressional Review Act of 1996 established a process through which Congress can overturn regulations issued by federal agencies by enacting a joint resolution of disapproval. The Senate passed the disapproval resolution on March 4 by a vote of 53-46. A disapproval resolution must be signed by the president before it could go into effect.

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U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx represents North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District and is the elected Republican Conference Secretary. Dr. Foxx is the chair of the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and serves as Vice Chair of the House Rules Committee.