On the heels of useful guidance on social media policies, the National Labor Relations Board kicked the proverbial hornet’s nest with its announcement of a new requirement that employers post notices explaining workers’ rights to unionize.
Not surprisingly, business groups and Republicans howled in protest at the issuance of the new rule.
According to a NLRB press release, the notice states that employees have the right to act together to improve wages and working conditions, to form, join and assist a union, to bargain collectively with their employer, and to refrain from any of these activities.
The notice also provides examples of unlawful employer and union conduct and instructs employees how to contact the NLRB with questions or complaints.
The new rule will take effect next Nov. 14. The actual wording of the notice has yet to be finalized.
Not well received by business
Reaction to the NLRB move was swift. Republicans, already steaming over what they see as an improper broadening of the power of the labor board, were calling the NLRB things like “a rogue agency.”
And a New York Times story quoted Randel K. Johnson, senior vice president for labor policy at the United States Chamber of Commerce, as saying: “This is one more initiative among those we expect to be coming out over the next month that are essentially gifts to organized labor.”
For a look at the new rule, go here.
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