The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has published its final rule amending its election procedures, which will ultimately result in a shorter time period between the filing of an election petition and the date of the election. These new "ambush election rules" will give Big Labor what it wants – quicker elections that deny employers a meaningful opportunity to educate employees on the risks and disadvantages of union representation.

As discussed in our December 5, 2011 Legal Alert the Board, in a 2-1 vote, approved some, but not all, of the proposed amendments it published in June 2011. Because the Board will lose a quorum and, therefore, be unable to take any official action after the recess appointment of Member Craig Becker expires at the end of this year (barring any recess appointments by the President), the Chairman pushed for a vote on the scaled-back version of the proposed amendments in an apparent effort to ensure the quickie election procedures were approved. The amendments take effect April 30, 2012.