Strategies for Removing a Union

Assess whether you or someone you know may be employed in a workplace where a union has the authority to represent and negotiate collectively, which many workers may or may not appreciate.

Examine how the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in the USA and your state's laws grant unions exclusive representation power, but that contract can be:

• Revoked by the workers through decertification, or
• Altered by state and local contracts or statutes.

Verify if certain state governments authorize bargaining privileges that:

• Grant union officials exclusive authority to negotiate contracts;
• Prevent you and other employees from negotiating your own contracts and terms of employment individually.

Investigate decertification elections: While it's typically difficult, the NLRA permits employees to request a special election to completely remove the union as their exclusive representative.

• 'Decertification Election' -- employees revoke the union’s certification as the exclusive bargaining representative.
  • This effectively votes the union out of your workplace.
  • Such elections are conducted under the NLRA, which regulates the general labor relations of most private sector workers in the United States.

Determine if you would like to pursue decertification to have a workplace where you can directly discuss your employment terms and conditions with the employer, without third-party intervention (union).

Decide if you would support state right-to-work legislation -- if you prefer a workplace where union membership and dues payment are voluntary, potentially holding the company and union hierarchy accountable to negotiated rules without requiring union membership or dues.

• Instead of relying on union-state rules to compel financial support for the union -- possibly including termination for refusal to comply with union-contract rules -- union officials may need to persuade each individual employee of the benefits of union membership in an open union shop.

To begin: Petitioning employees should assess the level of support for decertification within your specific bargaining unit. It's only worthwhile if you, as the petition signers, believe you have a good chance of success.

Acquire the official 'NLRB’s Petition form' from the website, requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF). You can locate a list of regional NLRB offices in your vicinity on the website.

Collect signatures during employees' non-working hours (before and after shifts, during lunches, and breaks), and in non-work areas! Before collecting signatures, ensure to fill in the names of the union and employer in the designated spaces on the petition form.

• Do not seek assistance from the employer to gather signatures of 30% or more of employees, and refrain from utilizing employer resources for votes (no employer inducements, promises, or on company time), as it could lead to dismissal if proven.

Include the completed NLRB “Petition cover sheet,” known as 'NLRB Form 502.' This single sheet of paper is straightforward to complete and can be obtained from any Regional Office of the NLRB.

• If the number of valid signatures surpasses 50% of eligible employees in the bargaining unit represented by the union, the signed employees can request immediate withdrawal of recognition from the union by the employer, as it lacks majority support among bargaining unit employees.

To succeed: You require a simple majority of those who actually cast ballots on the 'official election day, place, and designated time,' with affirmative responses signifying Yes, I agree to decertify (more than 50% of those who turn up and vote).

Refer to National Labor Relations Board regulations concerning decertification elections, or any restrictions such as:

• 'Certification bar' -- prevents filing decertification election petitions for one (1) year after a union wins an NLRB-conducted election.
• 'Contract bar' -- prohibits filing decertification election petitions during the first three (3) years of a collective bargaining agreement, except within a specific 30-day 'window period.'
• 'Window period' -- allows filing a decertification petition with the NLRB for 30 days occurring 60 to 90 days 'prior to' the contract's expiration date or its 3-year anniversary, whichever comes first. In the health care industry (e.g., hospitals), the 30-day 'window period' happens 90 to 120 days 'before' the contract's expiration date or after its 3-year anniversary (if not expired), whichever comes first.
• 'Contract expired' -- permits filing a decertification petition after a contract expires or reaches over 3 years old.
• 'Successor contract' -- if the employer and union sign a successor contract, it initiates another 3-year 'contract bar' on decertification elections. Thus, missing the 'window period' for filing a decertification petition may require waiting another 3 years to request one.

Ensure your petition is driven by employees (not initiated by the company). Employer involvement is illegal.

Recognize that with any employer involvement, the union can invalidate the effort by lodging an 'unfair labor practice' charge and prevailing in it.

To proceed, employees can gather signatures on a petition, for decertification or deauthorization, which may resemble examples available from: nrtw, National Right to Work Organization.

It's advisable to obtain the most recent, official NLRB form to ensure clarity and precision. A template could be:

PETITION FOR UNION REMOVAL AS REPRESENTATIVEThe undersigned employees of ________________________ (employer name) do not wish to be represented by ________________________ (union name), hereinafter referred to as the “union”. If the undersigned employees constitute 30% or more, but less than 50%, of the bargaining unit represented by the union, we petition the National Labor Relations Board for a decertification election to ascertain if the majority of employees no longer desire union representation. Moreover, if the undersigned employees constitute 50% or more of the bargaining unit represented by the union, we request our employer to promptly withdraw recognition from the union, as it lacks majority support. _______________________ _______________________ ____________Name (Print) .......................... Signature .......................... Date_______________________ _______________________ ____________ Name (Print) .......................... Signature .......................... Date_______________________ _______________________ ____________ Name (Print) .......................... Signature .......................... Date_______________________ _______________________ ____________ Name (Print) .......................... Signature .......................... Date_______________________ _______________________ ____________ Name (Print) .......................... Signature .......................... Date

Explore the distinction between decertification and deauthorization elections.

Investigate the specific nature of your union, such as 'state and local government employees' or 'public school employees', whose procedures may vary from those of private sector 'decertification' processes.

Examine 'public sector deauthorization legislation' -- state regulations governing public employees which allow for:

• Decertification election to completely remove the union.
• Deauthorization election to solely eliminate the “union security” clause from the contract election. Its sole purpose and effect are to reverse mandatory union payments and membership, while:
• Preserving the union as the exclusive bargaining representative.
• Keeping the collective bargaining agreement intact, except for the obligatory unionism clause (membership or dues become optional).

• Presently, 24 U.S. states afford the 'right to work' without mandatory union dues (open or merit shop), with similar legislation proposed in several compulsory unionism (closed union shop) states in recent times.
• Decertifying a union is solely the prerogative of workers under state and federal statutes.
• If a contract expires, a company may eventually cease adhering to their no-longer agreed-upon union regulations.

• Note: In the U.S.A., legislation, regulations, and procedures for airlines and railways differ from those of other employers covered by the 'U.S. Railway Labor Act (RLA)', not the NLRA laws and regulations.