D.C. court upholds NLRB expedited election rule

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia yesterday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to overturn a National Labor Relations Board rule expediting union elections. The lawsuit by the Chamber of Commerce, Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and others argued that the rule exceeds the NLRB’s authority under the National Labor Relations Act, violates employers’ constitutional rights and should be set aside under the Administrative Procedure Act. “Plaintiffs’ policy objections may very well be sincere and legitimately based, but in the end, this case comes down to a disagreement with choices made by the agency entrusted by Congress with broad discretion to implement the provisions of the NLRA and to craft appropriate procedures,” wrote U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson. A federal judge in Texas last month dismissed a similar lawsuit seeking to overturn the rule, which among other changes would allow union elections to be held as soon as 10 to 21 days after an election petition is filed and make board review of post-election decisions discretionary. The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, of which AHA is a member, anticipates appealing the decision.