Facts about NLRB Elections

When will an election happen?

• We don’t know yet. 
• The NLRB will likely soon set the location, date and time for a secret ballot election after getting both the union’s and The Post’s positions and, if necessary, conducting a hearing. The NLRB election process generally takes place in the weeks following from when the petition is filed. 

What does an election involve?

• In an NLRB secret ballot election, every employee in the unit has the opportunity to consider all the facts and decide for themselves whether to vote for or against the Guild as their bargaining representative. 
• The NLRB will supervise the election, protect the privacy of employee voting, and ensure the election is run fairly. The NLRB-supervised election process is designed to prevent the coercion of employees in exercising their rights to vote for or against a union.
• Typically, employees vote in designated locations at their workplace on the dates and times that the NLRB sets or, in appropriate cases, employees may vote through mail ballots provided by the NLRB. Either way, employees will get a ballot that they mark in private, seal themselves, and then put in a sealed ballot box (or mail in some cases).  The ballot will instruct employees to vote “no” to reject the union or “yes” to be represented by the union. Employees do not sign their ballots, so no one knows how an employee voted unless the employee chooses to share. 

How is an NLRB election decided?

• The NLRB counts the ballots and announces the results. The outcome of an election is decided by a simple majority of employees who actually vote in the election. For example, if only 10 people vote, just six votes will determine the outcome for everyone in the proposed unit– which in this case is several hundred Post engineering employees.
• It is very important for employees to vote. If the Guild is elected through a majority of votes cast, the Guild will represent all engineering employees, even those who did not vote and those who voted “no” to having a union. 

What happens if the union is elected?

• The Guild would represent all engineering employees, whether they voted for the union or not.  
• The Post and the Tech Guild would have to engage in collective bargaining negotiations over wages, hours and working conditions for employees in the unit. See The Collective Bargaining Process.
• While negotiations are ongoing, and until a first contract is reached, the NLRB prevents employers from making unilateral changes (without bargaining) in working conditions for unit employees, like wages, benefits and policies, with few exceptions, and requires maintaining the “status quo” during negotiations, which can sometimes take years.