Unionization Petitions Up 30% in 2024 in Wake of Cemex Decision

US workers are seeking to unionize at increasingly higher rates, having filed over 30% more election petitions with the National Labor Relations Board than at this point last fiscal year, the agency announced.

The NLRB so far has received more than 2,600 union election petitions in fiscal year 2024, more than the 2,594 petitions filed in all of fiscal year 2023, an agency spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.

The increases largely were driven by a 2,000% surge in the number of employer-filed petitions after the board’s decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC altered its framework for policing alleged legal violations before an election. Cemex requires that employers either voluntarily recognize a union or file RM election petitions with the NLRB when unions come to them with proof of majority employee support.

Yet the number of worker-filed eleciton petitions also went up by 13% from last fiscal year, the agency said. At the same time, decertification petitions to oust existing unions increased by 12%.

The agency’s regional offices additionally have conducted more elections this fiscal year than in all of fiscal year 2023. According to the statement, unions have won 79% of elections from union-filed petitions and 70% of the elections from employer-filed petitions.

The boost in numbers comes after the agency altered its regulations to shorten the amount of time to facilitate representation elections and resolve disputes within them.

Fiscal 2024 was marked with several historical union drives, including those among college athletes, workers at a Tennessee Volkswagen plant, and bankers at Wells Fargo.