The ABC-led Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) Jan. 31 filed a request with the U.S. Court of Appeals as part of their continuing efforts to block the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) “ambush” elections rule. The statement of supplemental authorities was filed after an appeals court ruled Jan. 25 that President Obama violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate to fill NLRB vacancies. 

The CDW’s request could greatly roll back the impact of Obama’s most controversial NLRB appointee, Craig Becker, whose tenure on the board resulted in a regulation that could replace decades of practice in union-recognition elections with “ambush” elections.

If implemented, the ambush elections rule would reduce amount of the time between when a union files a representation petition and an election takes place from the current average of 40 days to as few as 17 days. 

The rule became effective April 30, 2012 but was overturned May 14, 2012, by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The NLRB appealed that decision Aug. 7, 2012. 

“Today’s filing represents a second strong legal argument to overturn the unwise and unfair ambush elections regulation forced through by President Obama and Craig Becker,” said CDW Chairman and ABC Vice President of Government Affairs Geoffrey Burr. “The impact on our nation’s labor law could be even broader, as an application of the Court’s recent recess appointment ruling could invalidate decisions going as far back as August 2011.”

For more information about CDW’s ongoing litigation in the ambush elections case, visit https://myprivateballot.com/litigation/nlrb-ambush-election-lawsuit/.