The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on April 16 upheld an NLRB regional director’s setting aside of a union election when the ballots were not translated into Spanish and Swahili. The decision highlights the importance of ensuring ballots are understandable by workers who don’t read English.
Because a substantial number of the employers’ workers did not speak English as their first language, the employer had — prior to the election — requested the assistance of Swahili translators. The employer asserted that most of its Swahili-speaking employees did not read or write Swahili and so would need the ballot and instructions translated to them.
The NLRB region had denied the request for a Swahili translator but permitted each party to have an observer, who spoke each language spoken by employees, present during voting.
The election was close, and the employer filed objections to it. The employer alleged that the lack of translators, the fact that all ballots were printed in English only, and errors in the wording and design of the Spanish and Swahili sample ballots impeded non-English-speaking employees’ ability to understand and participate in the election.
Although a sample ballot in each language was placed on the table where the board agent and observers sat, the Swahili sample ballot was incomplete, according to the employer. Specifically, the voting boxes were not labeled “Yes” or “No” and the employer’s Swahili observer had to write in these labels on the sample...
Renowned human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has criticised President Bola Tinubu for relying on claims by United States President Donald Trump regarding the reported killing of senior Islamic ...