If a union has collected authorization cards from at least 30% of the workforce, it can file a RC petition with the employment agency. “RC” stands for Representation Case. The Labour Council decides whether there is a bargaining unit before blowing a union election. The purpose of the election is to give workers a voice in the election – or not – of a union representing their interests. If a majority of workers vote in favour of union representation, the Labour Council certifies the union as the workers` representative and the collective bargaining process begins. Once a union is recognized either voluntarily or legally, employers are generally required to fulfill certain obligations. As a general rule, collective bargaining procedures must be agreed and the scope of an agreement must be defined. Negotiated procedures may include: how and when to hold meetings; Name of employer and union. An employer may opt for voluntary recognition of the union if the union has clear and convincing evidence that an overwhelming majority of workers want union representation. Voluntary recognition is without choice – the employer essentially renounces to choose and accepts the union`s proof that the workers want the union to represent them. However, the employer should be satisfied that it is prepared to recognize the union as the workers` representative. Once voluntary recognition has been carried out by the employer, there is no turning back. After the employer informs the employment agency and the union that he wants to voluntarily recognize the union, the Labour Council certifies the union as the workers` representative.

The employer is then required to bargain in good faith with the union, as if an election were being held. Conversely, we are certain that the decision will be immediately felt by the unions in their organizing efforts. Unions across the country have increasingly turned to voluntary recognition in their organizing efforts, usually with the agreement of the target employer to determine the status of the majority through card checking and sometimes with the agreement that the employer remains neutral during the union`s efforts to obtain signatures and support prior to the formal application for recognition. Unions with sufficient economic or political influence have used the threat (explicit or tacit) to disrupt the employer`s business as a means of exerting pressure on employers to agree to give up their otherwise absolute right to compel the union to seek representative status through an election. Indeed, the voluntary recognition movement accelerated so much that the 2007 Congress came reasonably close to passing the Employee Free Choice Act which, among other amendments to the NLRA, would have required the NLRB to certify a union as an exclusive negotiator without election as long as a majority of workers in the proposed bargaining unit had signed valid authorizations. . . .