What Is A Union? Are 'Worker Centers' Labor Organizations?
A new decision by an NLRB Regional Director may help clarify the issue.
By Peter List, Editor | June 25, 2024
A question that has confounded many in the labor relations community for years is whether or not worker centers are, in fact, labor organizations.
However, a new decision by a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Regional Director (RD) may shed some light on the subject.
According to Matt Breunig, who writes the NLRB Edge on Substack, a Regional Director’s decision directing an election in a petitioned-for unit of employees at two Bruegger's Bagels locations found that a ‘nascent organization’ was a labor organization under the Act.
Here' is Mr. Breunig’s summary [emphasis added]:
Key points of the legal analysis:
The Regional Director applied the broad statutory definition of "labor organization" from Section 2(5) of the NLRA.
The decision analyzed whether the petitioner met the three-part test for labor organization status: (1) employee participation, (2) purpose of dealing with the employer, and (3) dealing with terms and conditions of employment.
The Regional Director found all three elements were met, even though the petitioner was a nascent organization that had not yet engaged in formal bargaining.
The lack of formal structure (no constitution, bylaws, dues, etc.) did not preclude finding labor organization status for an incipient union.
The Regional Director concluded the petitioner qualified as a labor organization and directed an election in the stipulated unit.
Here is a link to the decision.
Does this decision’s standard have applicability elsewhere?
While the NLRB’s Regional Director’s decision applies to a single election, can this standard also be applied to the hundreds of other groups that are considered worker centers, or other worker-advocacy groups?
For example, if the standard set forth by the RD applies to other organizations, do immigrant rights groups that file charges on behalf of immigrants qualify as ‘labor organizations’ under the Act.
Would the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which has been instrumental in helping to unionize employers across the country be considered a labor organization—or, if the DSA is working with unions, would it be considered an agent by extension?
While there are no answers to these questions (yet), perhaps the NLRB RD’s decision will pave the way for some clarity on the issue of ‘what is a union?’.
