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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) just made union organizing that much easier for workers who want to organize their workforces, issuing both a long-awaited regulation and a controversial decision that will transform the landscape of labor law as we know it.

On Dec. 11, 2014, the NLRB ruled that employees have the right to use their employer’s email system on nonworking time to discuss wages, hours, conditions of employment and even union organizing. The very next day, the NLRB finally implemented its 鈥渜uickie election鈥� rules, which will speed up union elections while requiring employers to turn over personal email addresses and telephone numbers to union organizers. These changes will have a profound impact on union organizing tactics and representation elections, and you can expect an immediate increase in union organizing activity in 2015.

Email systems are fair game
The email ruling came from a case involving Purple Communications (PC), a provider of sign-language interpretation services, which has an electronic communications policy that limited the use of its computers, email systems and other company equipment to business purposes only. Many companies have similar policies that prohibit employees from using work systems and equipment for personal emails, and from engaging in activities on behalf of organizations with no business affiliation with the company.

Several years ago, a union petitioned to represent workers at seven of PC’s call centers, but lost the elections. The union challenged the result by asserting that the policy interfered with the workers’ freedom of choice in the elections. The NLRB decided that employees who have rightful access to their employer’s email system in the course of their work have a presumptive right to use the email system to engage in protected communications on nonworking time. This means that an employer may not totally ban personal use of its email system by employees without running afoul of this new ruling.

While employers can still monitor employee use of computers and email for legitimate management reasons (such as productivity, preventing harassment or other potential problematic behaviors, etc.), the NLRB warned that employers cannot increase its monitoring during a union organizing campaign or focus monitoring efforts on union activists or protected conduct.

鈥淨uickie elections鈥� arriving soon
The accelerated election rules 鈥� also known as 鈥渜uickie election鈥� rules in some circles 鈥� had long been anticipated. In fact, the NLRB had previously passed a similar rule that was struck down by the court system on a technicality before being implemented.

There appears to be no such saving grace for employers this time, however, and there seems to be nothing in the way of these rules being implemented in final form in the coming months. The clear objective for these new rules is to expedite the time between when a petition is filed and an election is held, thereby reducing the time for employers to combat an election drive, and dramatically increasing the chances of union-organizing success.

Starting April 14, besides facing a very short time frame before a union election, employers have a host of other new challenges to overcome. First, employers will have to provide union organizers with available personal email addresses and telephone numbers for all eligible voters in the workplace, which should allow unions to have more effective communications with their target voters earlier in the process.

Further, there will only be a limited number of procedural objections that employers can lodge before an election, and the time frame for the limited objections will shrink. Finally, employers that lose any of these challenges cannot delay the process by seeking an immediate appeal, as those will now be tabled pending the election itself.

With these roadblocks out of the way, unions will be able to take advantage of smooth sailing and increase their chances of success by a significant degree.

What does this all mean?

The bottom line is that things just got dramatically easier for workers to organize into unions, and those companies that want to stay union-free will have their work cut out for them. Employers that had thought they could wait to prepare for a possible election campaign will need to get their ducks in a row now, because delaying preparations until the unions make themselves known will generally be too late.

Employee use of company email systems for union organizing efforts can be a game changer, and quicker elections mean more employees will be voting on union representation on the heels of the negative emotions that drove the organizing activity. Therefore, it is also important to employers to improve communications with their workforce now in order to address pending workforce problems. Workers who feel as if they have no voice now will be more likely to be attracted to unions that promise to bring about the changes that they are seeking.

These are just the first two dominoes to fall, and most expect several others to fall in the coming months as the NLRB gains momentum. There is no question that the new changes will provide a boost to unions that are eager to stem the tide of membership decline, and you can expect an immediate uptick in organizing activity as a result.

Rich Meneghello is a partner in the Portland office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, which is dedicated to representing the interests of management. Contact him at or 503-205-8044, or follow him on Twitter 鈥� @pdxLaborLawyer.