Last Thursday I announced the appeal by the Los Angeles Times Communications LLC to th Washington D.C. National Labor Relation Board would conclude regarding the January 6th, 2007 election among the two pressrooms. I was wrong assuming it would be a thirty day process, it's a bit more like seven to fifteen weeks before a ruling is handed down. After reading many pages of the NLRB's information I was able to locate what I was seeking, how long the appeal process can be expected to take. Below is what I discovered last night.
When an unfair labor practice charge is filed, the appropriate field office conducts an investigation to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe the Act has been violated. If the Regional Director determines that the charge lacks merit, it will be dismissed unless the charging party decides to withdraw the charge. A dismissal may be appealed to the General Counsel's office in Washington, D.C.
If the Regional Director finds reasonable cause to believe a violation of the law has been committed, the region seeks a voluntary settlement to remedy the alleged violations. If these settlement efforts fail, a formal complaint is issued and the case goes to hearing before an NLRB Administrative Law Judge. The judge issues a written decision that may be appealed to the five-Member Board in Washington for a final agency determination. The Board's decision is subject to review in a U.S. Court of Appeals. Depending upon the nature of the case, the General Counsel's goal is to complete investigations and, where further proceedings are warranted, issue complaints if settlement is not reached within 7 to 15 weeks from the filing of the charge. Of the total charges filed each year [about 35,000], approximately one-third are found to have merit of which over 90% are settled.
A ruling could be announced tomorrow, or in July, no one is certain how long this may take at this time.
Ed,
ReplyDeleteWhat you have here refers to ULP's "unfair labor practices"
and those time parameters apply to those types of filings.
The company filed what are refered to as "Exceptions"
with the Washington NLRB.
They are contesting the Regional NLRB's decision to overrule the company's "Objections" that were filed regarding the election results, alledging misconduct by the union and certain employee activists.
The Regional NLRB Hearing
Officer Jessica Toten
recommended "Certification" of our election, and that is what the company is attempting to prevent.
There are no actual time constraints that the NLRB must act within because they evaluate matters put before them on a first come first serve basis, so our answer is dependent on how many filings were already before The Board previous to ours.
It can, and hopefully will be announced in days, instead of weeks, or months. Until then, relax and be patient.