Court blocks NLRB rule on April 30 posting of union-organizing tips

Sources: Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Washington, D.C.; CP staff

ABC applauds a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit injunction amid proceedings challenging the NLRB’s rule for private sector employers to post by month’s end “Notification of Employee Rights,” an 11- x 17-in. notice on National Labor Relations Act union-organizing and collective bargaining provisions.

The mid-April move tables the rule pending the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace’s appeal of a recent ruling in which U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found NLRB has the authority to mandate the notice posting but not to impose an upfront, blanket penalty policy for failure to post.

“ABC has vigorously fought NLRB’s politically motivated policies that threaten to paralyze the construction industry in order to benefit the special interests of politically powerful unions,” says Vice President of Federal Affairs Geoff Burr. “The NLRB’s notice posting rule is a perfect example of how the pro-union board has abandoned its role as a neutral enforcer and arbiter of labor law.”

The Appellate Court action followed by one week a U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina decision stating the NLRB does not have the statutory authority to require business owners to post the notice. The agency announced the rule in August 2011; April 30 was the third deadline set for the notice posting, following postponement of November and January targets. NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce said of the recent decisions, “We continue to believe that requiring employers to post this notice is well within the Board’s authority, and that it provides a genuine service to employees who may not otherwise know their rights under our law.”