According to the National Labor Relations Board’s notice of election, some employees were permitted to vote even though no decision has been made regarding whether they will be part of a possible bargaining unit at Fuyao.
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“Their ballots shall be challenged since their eligibility has not been determined,” the NLRB’s notice says. “The eligibility or inclusion of these individuals will be resolved, if necessary, following the election.”
Here’s the full text of the relevant section of the notice:
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“Others permitted to vote: At this time, no decision has been made regarding whether quality engineers, translators, and coordinators/team leaders are included in, or excluded from, the bargaining unit, and individuals in those classifications may vote in the election but their ballots shall be challenged since their eligibility has not been determined. The eligibility or inclusion of these individuals will be resolved, if necessary, following the election.”
Doug Anspach, an attorney and partner at Dayton law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister, said the language is “not that big of a deal.” Typically, pre-election NLRB hearings once decided who the eligible workplace voters were in union votes.
Now, in order not to delay a vote, this kind of language is often incorporated into NLRB notices of election, he said.
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“For now, everyone votes subject to challenge,” Anspach said.
In a close vote, however, the margin may be decided by whose ballots are or aren’t counted, he noted. In that case, a final resolution could take “weeks or months.”
“It will become significant, if the challenged ballots are sufficient to possibly alter the election, then yes, it’s significant and it will delay the certification,” Anspach said.
Then the NLRB will schedule a hearing and decide who the eligible voters are.
Matthew Denholm, assistant regional director at the NLRB’s Cincinnati office, said the number of employees referenced here amount to about six percent of a potential bargaining unit. “Basically, we agreed to just vote them challenged,” Denholm said.
There’s always the possibility that the challenges will be “determinative,” in the case of a close vote, he said. “Then of course there’s no option but to have a post-election hearing on the challenges.”
“I have no way of knowing whether it’s going to be close or not,” Denholm said.
Worker voting starts 8 p.m. to midnight in the ground floor central break room at the West Stroop Road Fuyao plant Wednesday. It resumes Thursday at 6 a.m. to noon, then 1 to 5 p.m. Vote counting is supposed to begin immediately after voting ends.
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