NLRB proposes balanced language on employee union rights in notice revisions

54020 Federal Register/Vol. 76, No. 168/Tuesday, August 30, 2011/Rules and Regulations 75 FR 80418-80419 (footnote omitted). The Board received a few suggestions for changes to the introduction of the notice. The first comment suggests including language stating that employees are required to contact their “executive manager” or ‘‘administrative team” before contacting the NLRB and suggests that the NLRB refuse to process employees’ complaints until the employees first raise the issue with his or her ‘‘management team.” The second comment, from COLLE, urges the Board to add language in the introduction alerting employees that they also have the right to refrain from engaging in union activity. The comment suggests that by not including the right to refrain from union activity in the introduction, the Board is showing a bias toward union organizing. The comment argues that a more neutral notice would include both the right to engage and not engage in union activity at the beginning of the document, rather than wait to first mention the right to refrain in the affirmative rights section. The Board does not agree with the proposal that employees be required to contact management officials as a prerequisite to contacting the Board. Such a procedural requirement is not contemplated in the NLRA and could discourage employees from exercising or vindicating their rights. The Board agrees, however, that the introduction should include both the rights to engage in union and other concerted activity and the right to refrain from doing so. The Board believes that adding the right to refrain to the introduction will aid in the Board’s approach to present a balanced and neutral statement of rights. Accordingly, the first sentence in the introduction to the notice in the final rule will state: The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) guarantees the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively with their employers, and to engage in other protected concerted activity or to refrain from engaging in any of the above activity. b. Comments Regarding Affirmative Statement of Rights The proposed notice contains the following statement of affirmative rights: Under the NLRA, you have the right to: Organize a union to negotiate with your employer concerning your wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. Form, join or assist a union. Bargain collectively through representatives of employees’ own choosing for a contract with your employer setting your wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions. Discuss your terms and conditions of employment or union organizing with your co-workers or a union. Take action with one or more co-workers to improve your working conditions by, among other means, raising work-related complaints directly with your employer or with a government agency, and seeking help from a union. Strike and picket, depending on the purpose or means of the strike or the picketing. Choose not to do any of these activities, including joining or remaining a member of a union. 75 FR 80419. The majority of comments addressing the affirmative rights section were general and did not specifically address the language of the individual provisions. Generally, labor organizations and employee advocate groups favor the Board’s language. A comment from the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union asserts that the approach “achieves an appropriate balance between providing sufficiently clear information about employee’s basic statutory rights and limiting unnecessary and confusing information about peripheral rights.’’ On the other hand, comments from employer groups do not favor the Board’s language. More specifically, employer groups argue that the notice is biased toward union organizing. Generally, the comments argue that the right to refrain from engaging in union activity should have a more prominent place on the notice, rather than being the last of the rights listed on the poster. Many of these comments contend that the notice should include the right not to engage in specific union-related activities. Other comments about the notice’s statement of affirmative rights are directed at individual provisions of the notice. A discussion of those comments is set out in more detail below. i. The Right To Organize and the Right To Form, Join and Assist a Union A few comments generally state that the notice should include the consequences of exercising the right to organize, join or form a union.1°> For example, several comments argue that employees should be informed that if they join a union they give up the right to deal directly with their employers. Another comment argues that employees should be informed of the cost of organizing a union, including the cost of dues and the potential for the company to shut down because of increased labor costs associated with a unionized workforce. Other comments 105 See, e.g., comment of Pilchak Cohen & Tice. suggest including language informing employees that they can be fired for not paying their union dues. The Board rejects those suggestions. The notice is intended to inform employees of the rights that they have under the NLRA and does not include the benefits or consequences of exercising any of the enumerated rights. Adding the consequences of one right would require revising the entire notice to include potential consequences— both positive and negative—of all the protected rights. For example, the notice would need to include the consequences of refraining from joining a union, such as not being permitted to vote on contract ratifications or attend union membership meetings. The necessary additions to the notice would create a notice that is not a concise list of rights, but more likely a pamphlet- sized list of rights and explanations. In addition, the consequences of unionization are unique to each unionized workplace, so it would be impossible to include a list of general consequences that could apply uniformly to all unionized workplaces. If employees have questions about the implications of any of their rights, they can contact an NLRB regional office. Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) suggests that the affirmative rights section should be revised to reflect the anti-union position. For example, rather than the current provision that states that employees have a right to “organize a union to negotiate with your employer concerning your wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment,” the comment suggests the following provision: ‘‘you have the right to organize with other employees in opposition to a particular union or unions.”’ And “you have the right to: refuse to form, join, or assist a union, including the right to refuse to sign a union card, attend a union meeting or supply a union with information concerning you, your co-worker or your job,” rather than “‘[you have the right to] [florm, join or assist a union.” The Board disagrees. The Board’s proposed notice language reflects the language of the NLRA itself, which specifically grants affirmative rights, including nearly all of those listed in the notice. Also, the notice, like the NLRA, states that employees have the right to refrain from engaging in all of the listed activities. The Board therefore sees no need to recast the notice to further emphasize the right to oppose unions. ii. The Right To Bargain Collectively Two comments suggest that the collective-bargaining provision is HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_022291