The United States was the first nation to adopt the
single bargaining channel, and Canada and the United Kingdom followed suit. For
the United States, that went through many labor conflicts in 1930s, resolving labor
conflicts required the creation of an exclusive bargaining representation election
system in the Wagner Act, which will be explained below. This system,
therefore, put an end to the so-called recognition strikes that were mainly
organized for obtaining bargaining representation. As a result, even though
many unions, large or small, were created at a workplace on the principle of “freedom
of association”, employees did not have the right to request the collective
bargaining unless a single union was recognized as an exclusive representative.
This was how the system ended disputes among labor unions.
(1) U.S.:
Exclusive bargaining representation system
①
Request for exclusive bargaining representative
A union has to collect authorization cards from at
least 30% of employees in the bargaining unit (the above-mentioned group of
employees) where it would like to exercise the power of representation. Then
the union has to file a petition with the NLRB, which acts like an election
committee. In order to process the petition, the NLRB must verify that the
authorization cards were signed by at least 30% of the employees in the proposed
bargaining unit by comparing them with the list of employees provided by the
employer. The list submitted by the union remains secret because confidentiality
must be thoroughly guaranteed to protect union-supporting employees from threats
of reprisal. If at least 50% of the eligible employees (including union and
non-union members) submitted cards, the NLRB may recognize, with the employer’s
consent, the exclusive bargaining representative without any necessary election
procedure. If the employer does not accept the result because he/she did not
have access to the list, he/she may not believe that at least 50% of the
employees signed the cards; if another union files a petition with at least 10%
of the authorization cards, a representation election must be conducted. The NLRB,
by authority, may recognize the union’s role as the official bargaining
representative, without requiring an election, if the list that the union
provided proves to be in the hands of the employer.
②
Certification Election Procedure
The NLRB immediately posts notices of the election
specifying the date, time and place of the election (cafeteria or hall in the
company) at the workplace one month before it’s held, unless there is a mistake
in the voter list. If there is a second or third union in the running, its
registration to the NLRB should be completed with at least 10% of voter
signatures seven days prior to the election. Any types of election campaigning
with favorable or unfavorable opinions for a specific union cannot be allowed at
the workplace before the election. Yet, such election campaigns are allowed when
they are organized off of the workplace. 20160219
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