Accessibility Tools

Skip to main content

NLRB Overturns "Micro-Unit" Determinations

Written on .

In order for a union to petition the NLRB to conduct a union election, the union must establish that the election will be held in an appropriate voting unit.  During the Obama-era, in a case called Specialty Healthcare, if a union petitioned for an election among a particular group of employees, those employees shared a community of interest, and the employer took the position that the smallest appropriate unit had to include additional employees, the Board would find the petitioned-for unit appropriate unless the employer proved that the excluded employees shared an "overwhelming" community of interest with the petitioned-for group.  The Board has now abandoned the "overwhelming" community-of-interest standard and returned to the traditional community-of-interest test that the Board has applied through most of its history.  PCC Structurals, Inc. 365 NLRB No. 160 (2017). 

The Specialty Healthcare issue became known as the "micro-unit" issue, as the concept allowed unions to carve out voting units that were most favorable to union representation.  Some cases even allowed individual departments in department stores to vote on union representation.  In the PCC case itself, the union was attempting to organize 100 employees out of 2,500 workers in a plant where the welders worked alongside other workers.  More employers in the future will undoubtedly organize their facilities in a manner to lessen the opportunity for a union to "carve out" a pro-union voting unit.

The new decision is already having an effect, as evidenced by the situation at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  At Volkswagen, the United Auto Workers has been trying to organize the plant for many years, losing a major election even though the company pledged "neutrality" and did not campaign against the union. Thereafter, the NLRB held that the Specialty Healthcare decision supported the union’s request for a vote among maintenance employees only.  Four days after the PCC Structurals’ ruling, the NLRB filed a motion to reconsider the earlier ruling.

Related Content

Get Email Updates

Receive newsletters and alerts directly in your email inbox. Sign up below.

Recent Content

A federal district judge in San Francisco on Monday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from terminating deportation protections f…
webinar promo graphic, Ideas for Coping with Labor Shortages in Light of Immigration Changes
In light of the massive enforcement efforts underway by the new Administration regarding unauthorized workers, including the termination of…
Silhouette worker
Recent changes in the composition of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and government directives suggest the possibility of signif…
change neon sign
There’s a new Administration in DC, and things are changing rapidly. Executive Orders articulate new policies, there’s new leadership with…
a closet of color coordinated clothes
On his second day in office, January 21, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order titled:  “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restor…
immigrants collecting crops
Trump's Executive Orders presently do not affect employees who are authorized to work at the present time but may affect any workers who ar…