The NLRB election was held in person on March 5 and 6, and the mail-in voting period has also concluded. The NLRB will count the votes on Thursday, March 27, and the results will be reported thereafter.
The outcome of the election will be determined by ballots cast by eligible voters. The party with at least 50 percent plus one of the total ballots cast in their favor will prevail. Some individuals voted under challenge because it is the Institute’s position that they are supervisors under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and cannot be included in any of the bargaining units. Since the NLRB did not hold a pre-election hearing on the eligibility or unit placement for the challenged classifications, those disputed classifications were permitted to vote subject to challenge. If those challenges do not affect the election results, any certification issued will state that the challenged classifications are neither included in nor excluded from the bargaining unit, as no determination has been made.
If that is the case, and assuming any bargaining unit is certified, the Institute will continue to work with the union in good faith to resolve the status of those who are not included and voted subject to challenge. If unresolved challenges remain, per NLRB rules and processes, the Institute will then file with the NLRB a Unit Clarification (UC) petition for further processing of the question concerning inclusion and exclusion from the unit for those challenged voters and classifications. Based on the NLRB’s rules and processes, an employer may file a UC petition to clarify whether particular employees should be included in or excluded from the bargaining units and/or to determine the status of individuals who voted subject to challenge in the election but whose ballots were not determinative. This would then proceed to a NLRB hearing for a decision on the matter.