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More employees are seeking out unions as a way to address workplace issues, according to the National Labor Relations Board, the governing body that enforces labor law and conducts workplace union elections.
The NLRB reported this month that the agency received 3,286 union election petitions in fiscal year 2024, which ended on Sept. 30, an increase of 27% compared to last year and more than double the number of petitions received since FY 2021.
“The surge in cases we’ve received in the last few years is a testament to workers knowing and exercising their rights under the National Labor Relations Act and to our board agents’ accessibility and respectful engagement with them,” the NLRB’s General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo said in a statement.
Rachel Lapp, who teaches labor relations at Towson University’s HR development graduate program, told HR Brew that President Biden’s NLRB nominees, including Abruzzo, have worked during his administration to facilitate easier, smoother pathways for employees to come together and bargain collectively for better pay and working conditions. The NLRB adopted new enforcement priorities that have made union avoidance meetings more difficult.
“It doesn’t come as a surprise to me,” she said. “When Biden became president, he became president [with] the full intention of being the most pro-union president in history.”
Lapp also said the efforts of the more worker-friendly NLRB are amplified by a new wave of younger, politically active employees with strong feelings about what justice looks like at work and who are unafraid to speak out about that.
“There’s a new generation that very much is looking for more meaningful work, looking for more fairness and working conditions,” she said, adding that many young workers helped to spearhead the widely covered organizing efforts at Starbucks locations.
HR pros can be mindful of the changing regulatory and societal landscapes, and double down on the “stuff you generally should be doing” to make sure people policies are open and reactive to the changing needs of your workforce.
“Look at your policies. Look at the relationships between your management team and your employees, specifically your hourly non-supervisory employees,” Lapp said. “Is your management team listening to what their employees are saying? Is there flexibility in your workplace? Is there input from employees on processes? Are your policies restrictive?”