![](https://onlabor.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Tala-Image.jpeg)
Tala Doumani is a student at Harvard Law School.
Last week, Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. Scott (VA-03) and Committee Democrats filed an amicus brief petitioning the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to combat anti-union employers from rigging union representation elections. The brief urges the NLRB to reinstate a policy under Specialty Healthcare, which heightened the burden placed on employers attempting to demonstrate that other excluded employees belong in a petitioned-for bargaining unit.
The NLRB had overturned its decision in Specialty Healthcare on Dec. 5, 2017, in PCC Structurals, Inc. following the election of Donald Trump and a general shift away from Obama-era policies. Committee Democrats state that the current standard provides employers with too much power to effectively gerrymander union elections by adding employees to the voting pool to dilute support for certain union representatives. The Specialty Healthcare standard, on the other hand, provides appropriate deference to workers’ preferences in resolving questions concerning the structure of a bargaining unit, rather than to those of the employer. This, the Committee Democrats argue, is central to worker freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively.
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July 28
NLRB issues new representation rules; first unionized Apple store reaches contract; online activity can be workplace harassment.
July 26
Prop 22 survives; video game workers take action; NLRB challenged.
July 25
Disney union reaches tentative agreement, FAA agrees to improve worker conditions, and Olympic dancers drop strike notice.
July 24
Unions demand end to military aid for Israel; UAW and Teamsters hold out on Harris endorsement; Judge declines to block FTC ban on non-competes
July 23
NLRB drops appeal of a district court case striking down its joint employer rule; red states challenge EEOC’s pregnancy rule; and the WNBA players’ union taps advisors.
July 22
Unions respond to Biden's exit, many back Harris.