On Monday the AFL-CIO submitted more than 21,000 comments on behalf of Americans who favor a new National Labor Relations Board-proposed “quickie election” rule change.
If the NLRB finalizes its proposed rule, the time between when union organizers file a petition and when an election takes place would be shortened to just 7–10 days. Traditionally, unionizing elections are held up to six weeks after organizers meet the petition requirements.
Union spokesman Josh Goldstein told The Daily Caller that the 21,000 comments submitted right before Monday’s deadline “were organized by the AFL-CIO, primarily through our online tools that allow the public to be engaged in these types of opportunities to have their voices heard.”
“These are separate from many other comments in support submitted to the NLRB not through the AFL-CIO,” Goldstein said in an email.
“It’s impossible to tell which comments are from union members and which are not, but our activists that took part in writing comments are from a very diverse group both union members and not,” Goldstein adds.
The NLRB published its proposed rule change in the Federal Register on June 22, which means the public could comment through Monday of this week, August 22.
The last-minute AFL-CIO-orchestrated efforts are something to be expected, Fred Wszolek of the Workforce Fairness Institute said. Up until Monday afternoon, as The Daily Caller reported last week, most of the public comments on the rule were against it.
“As the NLRB rushes to change the rules in favor of Big Labor, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that union bosses are pulling out all the stops in favor of action that fattens their pockets,” Wszolek told TheDC. “It is worthwhile to keep in mind that labor bosses at the AFL-CIO paid Craig Becker’s salary and brag about speaking with the White House daily, so it appears they continue to seek payback at the expense of workers and small businesses.”
Goldstein said the AFL-CIO’s efforts began on August 11, “just under two weeks ago.”
Though critics say the NLRB proposal rushes workers into voting in favor of, or against, unionization without hearing getting all the necessary information to do so properly, Goldstein told TheDC the AFL-CIO thinks the rule is fair.
“Of course the AFL-CIO believes workers should be informed before making the decision whether or not to join a union,” he said. “We also strongly believe that, that choice should be the workers’ yet the current system stymies free choice through misleading propaganda, costly litigation and a bureaucratic maze that can stall the process. This rule doesn’t address many of the fundamental problems with our labor laws, but it will help bring critically needed fairness and balance to this part of the process – and that’s good news for both employers as well as employees.”