The U.S. Chamber of Commerce asked Congress to overturn the National Labor Relations Board decision allowing unions to form micro units within a single employer facility.
“The NLRB issued many assurances about the limited impact of their micro-union decision, but those claims have been proven false,” says Glenn Spencer, vice president of the Chamber’s Workforce Freedom Initiative.
“The public would be well advised to closely scrutinize the board’s actions as the clock winds down on the Obama administration,” he stresses.
The NLRB’s 2011 decision authorizing micro units has encouraged these fractured bargaining groupings to spread across numerous industries, the Chamber says in a recent report on the trend.
The NLRB now approves virtually any bargaining unit suggested by a union, including micro-unions, the Chamber charges.
Under the ruling the Teamsters organized separate units of city and road drivers at Federal Express terminals in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Perfume demonstrators at a department store were separated out from other sales staff, and janitors at a Volkswagen plant were divided from other employees. Micro unit organizing also has taken place in the manufacturing, rental cars and telecommunications industries.
“The controversial decision allows unions to cherry pick small groups of workers to organize and get a foothold at a business even if the majority does not support unionization,” the Chamber explains.
In calling for congressional action, it asserts that the NLRB misled the public with respect to microunits. The board’s publicly issued statements at the time the rule was adopted indicated that it would apply only in limited circumstances.
“Congress should use every tool available to rein in the NLRB’s ‘micro-union’ overreach, and restore common sense to the National Labor Relations Act,” Spencer told Congress.