Labor Board Officials Can Toss Petitions to Eject Unions

Regional NLRB officials can throw out petitions to oust existing unions if they find merit to alleged labor law violations that would taint such requests or related votes to decertify a union, the board ruled.

The National Labor Relations Board’s unanimous decision Wednesday clarifies that regional directors’ authority to issue “merit-determination dismissals” remains despite the board’s 2020 regulation that changed its policy for how unfair labor practice charges impact representation petitions.

That regulation effectively eliminated the NLRB’s controversial “blocking charge” policy such that elections won’t be put on hold by pending unfair labor practice charges. Instead, the agency will either ...