Rep. Issa (R-CA) Seeks Information From National Mediation Board Regarding "Radical" Rule Change
On May 11, 2010, the National Mediation Board announced that it was changing a decades-old rule regarding the way votes are counted in union representation elections under the Railway Labor Act (RLA). By letter dated May 17, 2011, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to the Chairman of the NMB expressing concern over the change and requesting information regarding the change.
Under longstanding RLA interpretation, a union would only be certified as a bargaining representative of a group of employees if a majority of all eligible voters cast ballots in favor of unionization -- the "majority in unit" standard. The new standard, the "majority of votes cast" standard, essentially the standard applied by the National Labor Relations Board in elections under the NLRA -- a union is declared the representative of a unit of employees if a majority of the employees who cast valid ballots vote for union representation.
Rep. Issa's letter identfies a number of concerns with the change: exclusion of the Chairman from the consideration process; the influence of particular labor unions on the composition of the Board; and, the refusal to publish dissenting minority views, among other concerns. In light of these concerns, and the "radical shift in the Board's interpretation of the Railway Labor Act," Rep. Issa requested production of a wide variety of documents in connection with the decision. The letter requests designation of an NMB representative to provide a briefing by May 24, 2011, and production of the documents by June 1, 2011.
This is not the first challenge to the new rule. On May 17, 2010, an association of airlines filed suit to block the rule, and a few weeks later, the NMB agreed to hold up implementation of the rule until June 30, while the Court considered the parties' respective motions. That challenge failed and the rule became effective as of July 1, 2010.
Last May, Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) introduced S.J. RES. 30, a Joint Resolution to express "congressional disapproval" of the NMB's administrative action. The Senate voted 56 to 43 against the resolution. This past February, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) introduced legislation to reverse the rule change. The "Restoring Democracy in the Workplace Act" (H.R. 548) was intended to repeal a rule published by the NMB on May 11, 2010, and the related regulations, but has gone nowhere beyond committee to date.
