One More Win for the Union: 24 Hours Less to Campaign in Mail-Ballot Elections

On January 29, 2016, the NLRB in Guardsmark, LLC, 363 NLRB No. 103 (decision), changed over 50 years of precedent under the guise of “clarifying” a well-established rule concerning when the captive-audience speech prohibition begins in mail-ballot elections.  In 1959, the Board in Oregon Washington Telephone Co., 123 NLRB 339 (1959) established that captive-audience speeches were prohibited from the time and date the ballots were scheduled to be mailed by the NLRB Regions and continuing until the time and date set forth for the return of the ballots.  This Oregon Washington Telephone rule is contrasted to the Peerless Plywood rule, which prohibits mass captive-audience speeches by parties within the 24-hour period prior to the start of a manual election.   Peerless Plywood Co., 107 NLRB 427 (1953).   In Guardsmark, LLC, the Board found that the two rules caused confusion, overruled Oregon Washington Telephone, and set the prohibition to begin 24 hours before the Regions are scheduled to mail the ballots.

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