NLRB to rescind Trump-era rule that made it easier for workers to dissolve unions

The U.S. National Labor Relations Board has proposed rescinding a Trump-era rule that made it easier for workers to vote to oust unions, saying the measure made workplaces less stable.

Under the 2020 rule, workers were required to hold elections to either certify or dissolve a union that was under investigation by the NLRB for illegal labor practices.

The rule also put an end to unions using a tactic known as “blocking charges,” which empowered them to push off decertification votes and elections they believed they would lose. Instead, the 2020 rule forced workers to hold an election, but ballots would be impounded by the NLRB until the investigation was resolved.

Although the NLRB is an independent government body, presidents appoint board members, which are typically members of the president’s party. It is currently led by Democrats appointed by President Biden.

The NLRB announced the rule Thursday.

The board’s opposition to workers voting belied Mr. Biden’s extolling the virtues of voting when it comes to electing Democrats in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The president said his political rivals were trying to block voting.

“Democracy is on the ballot. … They’re going after your right to vote and who’s going to count the vote,” Mr. Biden said of Republicans, adding that “democracy is on the ballot.”

Meanwhile, NLRB appointees said allowing workers to hold elections threatens the stability of labor negotiations. As they see it, making it harder to eject a union allows employers to build relationships with unions and strengthens collective bargaining.

NLRB Chairwoman Lauren McFerran, a Biden appointee, said in a statement that the improved stability “will better protect workers’ ability to make a free choice regarding union representation.”

Ms. McFerran was joined in the decision by the board’s two other Democratic members. The NLRB’s two Republican members, both appointed by former President Donald Trump, dissented.

The National Right to Work Foundation, which helps workers decertify unions, said in a statement that the proposal is a loss for workers’ rights.

“Make no mistake, reversing the Election Protection Rule will mean more workers trapped in forced union ranks they oppose, and more denials of worker requests for basic secret-ballot votes regarding union status,” said Mark Mix, president of the NRWF.

In pushing the rule change, the board said the Trump-era rule was based on flawed data that inflated how long elections had been blocked and did not distinguish from elections that were blocked pending an illegal labor practice probe or delayed for other reasons.

Mr. Mix said the board’s own statistics show that workers are rejecting union representation at the highest rate in years.

“Yet, rather than reflect on why so many workers want nothing to do with union so-called ’representation,’ the anti-worker response of the Biden Administration and their Big Labor allies is to build a wall to keep workers in unions, or to stop them from even holding votes to oust incumbent union bosses,” he said.

Mr. Biden has often said that he wants to be the most pro-labor president, frequently hosting union leaders at White House events.

“In my White House, you’ll always be welcome. You’ll always be welcome. Labor will always be welcome. You know, you’ve heard me say many times: I intend to be the most pro-union president leading the most pro-union administration in American history,” Mr. Biden said last year.

Correction: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story misidentified the National Labor Relations Board in a headline.