Since its inception nearly 90 years ago, the National Labor Relations Board has had a “strong policy” favoring in-person secret balloting absent “extraordinary circumstances.” That policy has been upended – as so much else in 2020 – by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Immediately prior to the pandemic, over 90% of representation elections were by secret ballot, whereas during the first eight months of the pandemic, March 15 and October 31, 2020, 90% of elections were by mail balloting
It is a troubling statistic. The secret ballot is far superior to mail balloting in fulfilling the fundamental purpose of the National Labor Relations Act -- to have the question of union representation decided by a majority of employees in free and fair elections. Board statistics consistently show that from 20% to over 30% more employees vote when the election is in person.
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