The NLRB Voter List: What the Employer Provides and How the Union May Use It

1. When the list arrives

Under 29 CFR 102.62(d), the employer must provide the list within 2 business days after the Regional Director approves an election agreement, or after a direction of election issues. The parties can agree to something different in the election agreement, and a direction of election can set a different time in extraordinary circumstances.

The list goes to the Regional Director and to the parties named in the agreement or direction. To be on time, it must be received within the 2 business days, not just sent. When feasible, it is filed and served electronically, and the employer files a certificate of service.

Sources: 29 CFR 102.62, Election agreements; voter list; Notice of Election (eCFR)

2. What the list contains

The rule sets out what the employer must include for every eligible voter. The list must be alphabetized, overall or by department, and in an electronic format approved by the NLRB General Counsel, unless the employer certifies it cannot produce that format.

People who will vote subject to challenge appear in separate sections of the list, with the same information as everyone else.

• Full name.
• Work location.
• Shift.
• Job classification.
• Home address.
• Available personal email addresses.
• Available home and personal cell phone numbers.

Sources: 29 CFR 102.62, Election agreements; voter list; Notice of Election (eCFR)

3. If the list is late or in the wrong format

The employer's failure to file or serve the list on time, or in the proper format, is grounds for setting aside the election when proper and timely objections are filed under 29 CFR 102.69(a)(8). The employer cannot object to its own failure if it was responsible for it.

Note what arrived and when. If the list comes late, is missing fields the rule requires, or is not in the approved format, raise it with your counsel quickly. Objections have their own deadlines.

Sources: 29 CFR 102.62, Election agreements; voter list; Notice of Election (eCFR)

4. The limit on how the list may be used

The same paragraph says the parties shall not use the list for purposes other than the representation proceeding, Board proceedings arising from it, and related matters. That limit applies to the union as a party.

In practice, keep the list apart from your other contact lists. Label it with the case and the date it arrived. Do not merge it into a general mailing list, a fundraising list or a political program. Ask counsel before using it for anything outside the election and its related proceedings.

Sources: 29 CFR 102.62, Election agreements; voter list; Notice of Election (eCFR)

5. Check it against your own list

Labor Notes advises unions to keep their own list rather than trust management's. The voter list is a chance to test yours. Match by name and work location, then look at the differences.

Someone on the voter list but not on yours is a worker your committee has not reached. Someone on yours but not on the voter list may be ineligible, in a different classification, or missing in error. Bring the second group to your counsel, since eligibility questions belong in the proceeding.

Use the shift and work location fields to update your workplace map. They show where your coverage is thin before the vote.

Sources: Labor Notes, "Count Noses" (Rebuilding Power in Open-Shop America); 29 CFR 102.62, Election agreements; voter list; Notice of Election (eCFR)

Before the vote

Before the vote, the committee should know who on the list has been reached, who has not, and which shifts and locations need attention. Questions about eligibility, format or timing go to counsel and the Regional Office, not into the organizing plan.