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Other Petitions and Elections

In addition to conducting elections to determine the employee bargaining representatives, the NLRA provides for several other elections which relate to the composition of bargaining units and the rights of the exclusive bargaining representative.

Withdrawal of Union Security Authority: This petition, which can also be filed by an individual, seeks an election to determine whether to continue the union’s contractual authority to require that employees make certain lawful payments — typically dues, initiation fees or other fee and assessments — to the union to retain their jobs. It must be supported by the signatures of 30 percent or more of the employees in the bargaining unit covered by the union-security agreement. These signatures may be on separate cards or on a single piece of paper. Generally, this showing of interest states that the employees no longer want their collective bargaining agreement to contain a union-security provision.

Once the 30 percent showing of interest is obtained, the NLRB will conduct a secret ballot election to determine if the majority of employees wish to deauthorize the union. The bargaining unit in which any election is conducted will be the same as the unit that is certified or recognized.

This deauthorization petition should be distinguished from the decertification petition, in which employees vote to completely remove the union as their collective bargaining representative.

Unit Clarification: This petition seeks to clarify the scope of an existing bargaining unit by, for example, determining whether a new classification is properly a part of that unit. Either the employer or the union may file this petition. It does not call for an election, but rather for a decision by the NLRB on a question related to the composition of the bargaining unit.

Amendment of Certification: This petition seeks the amendment of an outstanding certification of a union to reflect changed circumstances, such as changes in the name or affiliation of the union. This petition may be filed by a union or by an employer.