Union Election Petitions by Employers Surge Since NLRB Cemex Ruling

Author: Robert S. Teachout, Brightmine Legal Editor

April 12, 2024

Many more employers are filing petitions for union elections with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) since the Board issued a ruling in August 2023 making it easier for unions to organize without a secret ballot election.

According to recent data from the NLRB, union election petitions filed at NLRB field offices during the first half of fiscal 2024 increased by 35% over the same period in fiscal 2023. The agency attributed the increase to a spike in employer-filed petitions for union recognition elections following its ruling in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC. The NLRB reported that 1,618 petitions were filed from October 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, compared with 1,199 in the same months of fiscal 2023.

Under the Cemex framework, the Board shifted the burden to employers to either voluntarily recognize a union or file a union election petition when the union presents evidence (usually in the form of signed union authorization cards) that a majority of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit have designated the union as their representative.

According to the NLRB, 281 of the election petitions filed in the first six months of fiscal 2024 were filed by employers, compared to 62 petitions filed by employers during all of fiscal 2023. The surge is understandable, since an employer that chooses to pursue an NLRB-conducted election must file the petition within two weeks of the union’s request for recognition or face an order to bargain with the union (a Cemex order) from the NLRB.