Imberman & DeForest, Inc. recently published a survey “Keeping the Workplace Union-Free.” The survey analyzes NLRB election data and offers several “findings” and “lessons” which should be helpful to our readers.  The survey is based not only on NLRB election data but also on interviews Imberman & DeForest conducted with key executives at 285 companies from the five “Great Lakes States” (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin).

The survey highlights two critical findings.  First, smaller companies lose a greater percentage of union elections than do larger ones.  Second, companies, regardless of size, which are subject to “stealth” union election petitions lose “a far higher percentage of their votes than do companies that were aware of pre-petition union organizing efforts.”

As the report indicates, the survey’s two findings “are critical,” especially in considering the “quickie” election component of the EFCA “compromise.”  The authors state that some of the compromise proposals call for “elections to be held within 5 to 10 days of a union petition.”  The authors argue such a short time frame “eliminates and/or severely restricts management’s ability to inform employees about the negatives of unions…,” making the “results of any such election [] preordained.”

Essentially, the authors argue that if “quickie” elections become law, then every election would become a stealth campaign, which, as we indicated, gives unions a significant advantage.