Senior Vice President, Employment Policy Division, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
On May 25, the National Relations Board’s (NLRB or Board) Regional Director for Region 3 rejected a decertification petition filed by workers at a Starbucks location in Buffalo, New York. Decertification petitions are filed by workers when they decide that they no longer want a union to represent them.
A petition can only be filed after a one-year period has passed from the time the union is elected. In the case of the Buffalo store, that period expired on April 15, 2023. In light of that window closing, workers filed their decertification petition on April 28.
So why was the petition rejected?In her decision, the Regional Director noted that the NLRB’s General Counsel is seeking what’s known as a Mar-Jac remedy against Starbucks. Mar Jac remedies are pursued by the NLRB when an employer refuses to bargain with a union and seek to extend the aforementioned one-year period. According to Board policy, the Regional Director wrote, she is “compelled to conclude that the General Counsel’s seeking of an extension of the certification year will be granted such that it would preclude a question concerning representation at the time this petition was filed.”
In other words, the General Counsel has filed a complaint asking to extend the one-year period. It has not yet been adjudicated. But Board policy apparently requires the assumption that, when it is...
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