COCHRAN COSPONSORS BILL TO RESTORE UNIONIZATION STANDARD

Measure Overturns Labor Board’s Effort to Sanction “Mini” Unions within a Business

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today cosponsored legislation to overturn a federal agency regulation that could unnecessarily complicate business management by allowing “mini” labor unions to organize within a single company.

The Representation Fairness Restoration Act was introduced today by Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) to reverse the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) August decision in the Specialty Healthcare case (NLRB No. 83).  This precedent-setting decision would allow a union to organize a single department or category of employees within one company into a micro bargaining unit.  For decades, employees have typically organized as the largest possible bargaining unit within a firm.

The Senate legislation would restore the traditional standard for determining the formation of bargaining units.  Cochran is among 28 original cosponsors of the bill.
 
“The National Labor Relations Board decision is problematic on a number of fronts, one of which is that it represents another example of an overzealous federal regulatory agency,” Cochran said.

“My primary concern is that this decision will result in work environments that are not conducive to effective business management or job creation.  I think this decision also adds to the uncertainty that is holding back economic growth.  Reinstating the previous standard will not deter collective bargaining,” the Senator continued.

The NLRB decision opens the door to organized labor establishing a presence in businesses where the majority of employees may not want to be represented by a union.  At a hospital for example, nurses, nurse assistants or therapists could all form their own collective bargaining unit.  At a grocery store, employers might be faced with managing a fragmented workforce represented by separate unions for cashiers, baggers, produce workers or stockers.

The NLRB has been criticized for using an adjudicatory case like Specialty Heathcare to make labor policy rather than establishing a formal rulemaking process.

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