A group of workers does not get union representation by asking the employer. Under the National Labor Relations Act, a union or a group of employees asks the National Labor Relations Board to hold a secret-ballot election, and the board's regional offices process most petitions within weeks, not months (NLRB, election data, 2025). The path from cards to certification follows a fixed legal sequence.
- Workers sign authorization cards showing at least 30 percent support in the proposed unit.
- The union or employee group files an RC petition with the regional office.
- A hearing resolves who votes and in what unit, and a Direction of Election sets the date.
- Workers vote by secret ballot at the workplace.
- The region counts the ballots and certifies the result if no valid objections are filed.
What support does a union need before it can file?
At least 30 percent of employees in the proposed bargaining unit must show support, normally through signed authorization cards dated within the previous six months (NLRB, Form NLRB-501 instructions). Organizers commonly wait for well above that floor, because card signers can change their minds and the threshold only opens the door. The petition must name the employer, the union and the voting unit it seeks.
How does the employer respond to a petition?
The employer can agree to the election, contest the unit or the eligibility of particular jobs, or argue that some workers are supervisors excluded from the Act. It can also voluntarily recognize a union that shows majority support, which Section 9(c) of the statute does not compel. Once a petition is filed, the employer may not threaten, interrogate or discipline workers over union activity; Section 8(a)(1) makes that an unfair labor practice (NLRA).
What happens at the pre-election hearing?
A board agent holds a hearing, typically within days of the filing, to fix the eligible voters and the bargaining unit. The regional director then issues a Direction of Election stating the date, hours and place of voting. Disputes that would not change the outcome, such as unit questions that can wait, may be deferred until after the count (NLRB Rules and Regulations). The hearing is administrative, not a trial before the full board.
How is the election itself conducted?
Voters mark paper ballots in private, usually at the workplace during a single day or shift window. The board's stated aim is the earliest practicable election, and in contested cases the vote is commonly scheduled within a few weeks of the direction (NLRB election procedures). Each side may appoint observers who watch the polling place but not the voting itself. Mail and manual mixed elections are used where the workforce is dispersed.
What can each side lawfully say during a campaign?
Both employers and unions may campaign vigorously, and Section 8(c) protects employer speech so long as it carries no threat of reprisal or promise of benefit. The board has voided election results where managers stated plant closure as certainty rather than opinion, or granted benefits timed to the vote. Conduct, more than speech, is what most often costs a party an election it thought it had won.
What happens after the ballots are counted?
A majority of valid votes cast decides the question, whatever the unit's total headcount. A winning union is certified as the exclusive bargaining representative and the employer must bargain; a losing union leaves the workforce unrepresented, and a new petition on the same unit generally must wait one year. Either side may file objections to election conduct within days of the tally, and a challenged-ballot count can hold the result open (NLRB rules).
What other petitions reach a board election?
| Petition | Filed by | What it asks | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| RC | Union or employee group | Election to certify a union | The standard organizing petition |
| RM | Employer | Election on whether a union stays | Rare in practice |
| UD | Employees | Decertification of an incumbent union | Barred in the first year after certification |
The board publishes recent election results and case data on its website, which is where vote totals cited in coverage of major campaigns come from (NLRB, 2025).
Can a union win representation without an election?
Yes, two ways. An employer can voluntarily recognize a union that shows majority support to a neutral party, which no statute forces the employer to do. And under the board's 2023 Cemex framework, an employer whose serious unfair labor practices spoil an election can be ordered to bargain without a rerun vote (NLRB, Aug. 2023; challenged in federal courts, litigation pending). Both routes end in a certified representative; neither requires a ballot.
Who is excluded from board elections?
The Act covers most private-sector employees, but carve-outs decide many petitions. Independent contractors, agricultural laborers, most railroad and airline workers under a separate statute, and domestic and farm workers are outside the board's jurisdiction (NLRA Section 2). Supervisors are excluded too, and the fight over who is a supervisor, with authority to direct work and discipline, is a recurring feature of pre-election hearings.
What if the employer breaks the rules during the campaign?
Workers and the union can file unfair labor practice charges, which must be filed within six months of the conduct (NLRA Section 10(b)). Remedies depend on the violation: a rerun election where conduct tainted the vote, a reinstatement order where a supporter was fired, or, under the Cemex framework, a bargaining order in the narrow case where the employer's own unlawfulness destroyed the union's majority. Charges are allegations until the board or a court decides them.
What does a union do with certification once it has it?
A certification is a legal status, not a contract or a dues stream. It obliges the employer to bargain and gives the union the exclusive right to speak for everyone in the unit, including workers who voted against it. If the union never secures a contract, the certification persists, and a later decertification petition can test whether employees still want it. The one-year and three-year bars on decertification petitions are measured from certification and from contract execution respectively.
The process is procedural from start to finish, and that is the point: the statute channels a fight over power into filings, hearings and a counted ballot. Most of what goes wrong in a campaign, for either side, goes wrong as a rule violation with a six-month filing deadline attached.
Related: 9.9 percent: what the union membership numbers hide · Fifth Circuit judges press the labor board on Cemex orders.
For more context, read Fifth Circuit judges press the labor board on Cemex orders.
For more context, read A union win is not a contract: why first deals stall.
For more context, read 9.9 percent: what the union membership numbers hide.