Critics Blast NLRB's Return To Obama-Era 'Ambush' Election Rules

Although secret-ballot elections may disappear with card-check unionization, the union lawyers who run the NLRB appear to be covering all their bases.

Following the National Labor Relation Board’s (NLRB) release of its new election rules on Thursday, which many have derisively dubbed ‘ambush election rules,’ critics were quick to seize on the new rules to blast the Democrat-run NLRB.

Although published on Thursday, the rules do not go into effect until December 26, 2023 “to ensure adequate time for the NLRB’s Regional offices to implement the new procedures,” the NLRB said in its press release.

Although the NLRB’s ambush election rules may become superfluous if the NLRB adopts card-check unionization through the Joy Silk doctrine, the NLRB’s pro-union lawyers may just be covering all their bases.

The board did not seek public comment before adopting it, which could form the basis of a legal challenge, reported Reuters.

Despite the fact that unions are winning close to 75 percent of all certification elections, the rules announced on Thursday are a return to the so-called ‘ambush election rules’ that were in effect under President Obama’s NLRB, and were revised in 2019 during the Trump administration.