When a business receives an National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) union petition, there are three critical steps it must take. These steps are critical for businesses regardless of size. Failure of any of the three will result in an election loss for the company.
Hire Legal Counsel
NLRB Representation Elections are very formalized in their execution, especially at the beginning of the process. Legal filings and multiple requests for information and procedural decisions will come from a Board Agent whose concern is checking off the list of tasks – not whether the employer is getting proper advice.
I get it, nobody likes lawyers – until they need one. If you have been served with an NLRB petition – YOU NEED ONE! Each of these seemingly innocuous tasks the Board agent will be pressuring you to complete has major legal consequence. Some of the decisions related to these tasks can make the difference between a win or a loss in the election. One wrong decision or one wrong strategic move and its game over – you lose – union wins! Let me say this again, you need a lawyer.
Hire the Right Lawyer
If you’ve given in to the advice and admitted that you need a lawyer, great. Not to add a wrinkle, but you need the right lawyer! You need a lawyer that has NLRB experience. The process is so specialized, and the strategy so experience dependent, an inexperienced lawyer may be more harmful than no lawyer at all. Look for a law firm that specializes in Labor Law. If you don’t know a firm, contact us at National Labor Relations Advocates (NLRA). We have worked with labor law firms and lawyers all over the country. We can provide names in your area that you can reach out to for help.
Just to make sure you got the first critical step – You need a layer and – You need the right lawyer. Do this as soon as possible after receiving the petition.
Hire a Campaign Specialist
Who performs a heart bypass on themselves? No one. Who hires a plumber to perform a heart bypass? No one. Who even hires a family doctor to perform a bypass? No one. Everyone hires a specialist. Why? Because success is of vital importance.
Make no mistake, keeping a union out of your business, or out of more of your business is of vital importance. You should not do this alone, and you can’t delegate it to just another human resources consultant. You need a specialist, a firm whose main focus is fighting and winning union campaigns. NLRA has a 97% success rate in securing successful outcomes (election victories, withdrawn petitions, disclaimers of interest). Contact one of our campaign specialists today. If not NLRA, contact someone. This is your second critical step.
Business Priority – Win the Election
Hire the right lawyer. Hire a campaign specialist. Your attorney and you campaign specialist will work hand in hand to position your company for the win. The final step is the easiest and most important of the three. You have to push all-in. You have to shift all your focus to this effort. Your business priority for the duration of the campaign must be – win the election.
If winning this election is not the most important thing in the immediate future of your business, this last critical step will be an abject failure. The subtitle “3 Critical Steps to Take” was not chosen as hyperbole or some form of click-bait. It was chosen because it is true.
Decades of experience has clearly demonstrated that these are the three components, properly executed, that election winners share in common. Good legal defense – critical, without which a win is nearly impossible if not entirely impossible. Experienced campaign management, without which winning is based solely on luck – a roll of the dice.
Balance is Key
Total, laser-like, and uninterrupted focus by the whole of the company leadership on winning the election is not important, as the title declares – it is critical! All the legal maneuvering and skilled campaigning cannot save a company from its own failure to commit necessary attention and resources to defeating the a union.
Business must go on despite this attack. The suggestion is not to cease all business activities during the course of the campaign. The campaign activities must be conducted at full throttle in addition to normal business. This can be a delicate balance. When the two conflict, the campaign activities must take priority. The campaign interruption will be temporary. A union victory will be permanent and much more disruptive to the normal conduct of business.
Conclusion
A pending union election must be treated with the level of importance it deserves. It is often one of the largest threats many businesses will ever face to their way of life. Taking these critical steps cannot guarantee a win, but failure to take these steps greatly increases the chance of a company loss. Hire a labor lawyer. Hire a campaign management specialist. Do what they instruct and work hard. Improve your odds. Save your business from a union incursion.
