Concrete Products

MAY 2012

Concrete Products covers the issues that attract producers of ready mixed and manufactured concrete focusing on equipment and material technology, market development and management topics.

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APPELLATE COURT BLOCKS MANDATE FOR UNION-ORGANIZING POSTER GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS REGULATIONS Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) ap- plauded a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit injunction amid proceedings chal- lenging the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) rule for private sector em- ployers to post by April 30 "Notification of Employee Rights," an 11- x 17-in. notice on National Labor Relations Act union-orga- nizing and collective bargaining provisions. The mid-April court move tabled the rule pending the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace's appeal of a recent ruling in which U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found NLRB has the authority to mandate the notice posting but not to impose an upfront, blanket penalty policy for failure to post. "ABC has vigorously fought NLRB's polit- ically motivated policies that threaten to paralyze the construction industry in order to benefit the special interests of politically powerful unions," says Vice President of Federal Affairs Geoff Burr. "The NLRB's notice posting rule is a per- fect example of how the pro-union board has abandoned its role as a neutral en- forcer and arbiter of labor law." The Appellate Court action followed by one week a U.S. District Court for the Dis- NLRB RULE EXPEDITES REPRESENTATION ELECTIONS A controversial final rule issued by the National Labor Relations Board in De- cember 2011 that overhauls procedures for union representation elections be- came effective on April 30. Commonly known as the "ambush" elections rule, according to Associated Builders & Con- tractors, it reduces the amount of time between when a union files a represen- tation petition and an election takes place from the current average of around 40 days to as few as 17–20 days. The NLRB achieved this drastic reduc- tion in time primarily by combining pre- and post-election appeals, truncating pre- and post-hearing procedures, and limiting the types of issues an employer can raise at a pre-election hearing. (De- termining which employees are consid- ered supervisors and which constitute a potential bargaining unit are no longer permitted before the election takes place.) The shortened period for elec- tions places a premium on rapid em- ployer response to organizing activity. WWW.CONCRETEPRODUCTS.COM MAY 2012 | 7 trict of South Carolina decision stating the NLRB does not have the statutory authority to require business owners to post the no- tice. The agency announced the rule in Au- gust 2011; April 30 was the third deadline set for the notice posting, following post- ponement of November and January targets. NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce said of the recent decisions, "We continue to be- lieve that requiring employers to post this notice is well within the Board's authority, and that it provides a genuine service to employees who may not otherwise know their rights under our law."

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