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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2012)
Judge nixes NLRB request to reverse union election rule WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) — A federal district judge has turned down the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) request to reconsider his prior ruling killing the Board’s rule making union recognition elections fairer and more efficient. The rejection by District Judge James Boasberg was cheered by the Chamber of Commerce and the National Associa- tion of Manufacturers, which sued to stop the rule from taking affect. And it left the Board pondering its next move in the controversy. Boasberg threw out the rule earlier this year because, he decided, the NLRB lacked a quorum when it passed the measure last Dec. 16. The Board’s two Democratic members voted for the rule, but its lone Republican, Brian Hayes, neither opposed it nor abstained. He sim- ply didn’t vote. The NLRB’s rule would deprive busi- nesses of time they use for some proce- dural tricks to delay and deny workers the right to vote on whether to unionize. It would consolidate hearings, mandate that hearings on voter eligibility be after the vote, and set a time limit for object- ing to election procedures, among other things. Hayes’ non-vote deprived the NLRB of its required three-member quorum for a decision on the rule, Boasberg said. That’s despite new evidence the NLRB introduced at the rehearing about how its electronic “voting room,” involv- ing all three Board members, works — and showing that Hayes voted on every- thing else electronically on Dec. 16. The Board even noted that Hayes wrote a dissent against the rule when it was sent for official publication. Boas- berg replied that Hayes, like the other Board members, was under the “misim- pression” that the rule passed and should be published. But Hayes didn’t vote on it, so the rule wasn’t legally passed, the judge said. “Hayes’ presence for and participation in other votes that day do not necessarily establish his presence for the vote in question,” Boasberg wrote in his latest ruling at the end of July. “He must have been present for this vote to count to- wards this quorum,” the judge said (his emphasis). The NLRB can still pass the rule, Boasberg reiterated, if it can find a quo- rum to do so. HAPPY LABOR DAY TO ALL from IRON WORKERS LOCAL 29 111 PROUD YEARS OF SERVING THE WORKING MEN AND WOMEN OF OREGON Executive Board Rion Barrett, Kevin Crocker, Shane Nehls, Michael Newton, Neal Ryan Kevin Jensen - F INANCIAL S-T/B USINESS M ANAGER Joe Bowers - P RESIDENT /B USINESS A GENT Robert Camarillo - D ISPATCHER /O RGANIZER Kevin Soto - R ECORDING S ECRETARY 11620 NE Ainsworth Circle, Suite 200, Portland, OR 503-774-0777 Aimee Parmeter - A DMINISTRATIVE A SSISTANT AUGUST 17, 2012 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS PAGE 13
