The National Labor Relations Board clarified its rerun election procedures in cases of uncontested election misconduct. Dynamic Concepts, 371 NLRB No. 117 (July 22, 2022). After losing an election to represent the employer’s workers, the union filed objections alleging unlawful employer election conduct. The employer agreed to a rerun election, but the parties could not agree on stipulated election agreement language setting the rerun election terms. The union would not agree to the employer’s proposal to limit the information on the Board’s rerun election notice about the reasons for the rerun election. The regional director approved the agreement, but the union refused to sign it. The Board upheld the regional director’s power to direct a rerun election over the union’s objection, finding the regional director must schedule the vote for “an appropriate time.” The Board also found that in the rare circumstance where the objecting party refuses to proceed to a rerun election despite the other party’s consent, the Notice of the Rerun Election must inform the employees of the reasons for the rerun election, providing the language to be used in those narrow circumstances.

Data shows union petitions rose 58% in just the first three quarters of FY 2022. Unions and employees filed 1,892 representation petitions with the Board from October 2021 to June 2022. That number is not only more than the 1,197 petitions for the same period in the previous fiscal year, but more than...