WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) released a new committee staff report detailing the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB or Board) misconduct and procedural irregularities related to the agency’s administration of mail ballot elections:
“Through blatant misconduct that resulted in the disenfranchisement of workers participating union in elections, the NLRB has outright corrupted its once gold standard of secret ballot, onsite elections,”said Chairwoman Foxx.“By broadening its own authority and instituting a series of administrative changes that emboldened its own cadre of regional directors, the agency took risks that alienated voters. As this report makes clear, the NLRB’s administration of mail ballot elections has become deeply fraught with procedural misconduct and gross irregularities.”
Background
In November 2020, the NLRB issued a decision in the Aspirus Keweenaw case expanding NLRB regional directors’ authority to order a union election by mail rather than in person in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision significantly increased the number of Board elections conducted by mail during the pandemic.
In August 2022, the Committee was alerted to serious allegations from an NLRB employee whistleblower indicating that NLRB employees had interfered in representational elections involving Starbucks and Workers United. In response, now-Chairwoman Foxx initiated an investigation into the NLRB’s administration of mail ballot elections.
On January 12, 2023, Chairwoman Foxx resubmitted an October 2022 inquiry to the NLRB on the increased use of mail ballot elections and allegations of NLRB misconduct. In May 2023, the Committee received an insufficient response. This prompted an additional letter from the Committee in August. In November, the NLRB finally responded to the Committee’s inquiry by producing thousands of pages of documents. The documents provided evidence that the NLRB is unable to conduct mail ballot elections in a reliable manner.
Separately, on March 22, 2023, the Committee issued a subpoena to a cooperative NLRB employee whistleblower. Between March 29 and March 31, 2023, the whistleblower provided the Committee with more than 500 pages of documents. The documents revealed numerous instances of NLRB staff misconduct through their failure to follow NLRB procedures, stipulated election agreements, and directions of election. Thus, these documents also provided evidence that the NLRB is unable to conduct mail ballot elections in a reliable manner.
