The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to forgo attempts to override President Obama’s veto that protected the National Labor Relations Boards’ so-called quickie union elections, a measure opposed by restaurant employers.
The 96-3 vote came as a trade association revealed in a legal filing that 141 petitions for the expedited unionization votes have been filed with the NLRB since the new timeframe for elections was adopted by the agency. The agency has in effect shrunk the time between the announcement of a union vote and the actual balloting to as little as two weeks, from the previous period of about two months. Employers contend that they do not have enough time under the new standard to make a case to employees for remaining union-free.
Associated Builders and Contractors of Texas, a trade association for builders, said it tabulated the filings for accelerated elections, which were approved by the NLRB in December. ABCT is asking a federal court to reverse the NLRB’s approval of the expedited process.
Congress passed legislation overturning the NLRB’s action, but the law was promptly vetoed by President Obama.
Yesterday’s vote not only upheld the veto, but called for shelving the matter going forward, in effect preventing any subsequent vote on an override.
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