On November 18, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board announced in a press release that it has scheduled a November 30, 2011, vote on whether to adopt a small number of the amendments to its election procedures that the Board proposed earlier this year.

In mid-June, 2011, the Board issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in which it proposed amending its rules to speed up the representation process and reduce litigation of various issues.

According to the Board’s press release, the NLRB received more than 65,000 written comments on the proposal and heard testimony from 66 speakers at its two-day hearing in July 2011.

In light of the fact that the Board may be reduced to two Members after December 31, 2011, when Member Becker’s recess appointment expires, Board ChairmanPearce has indicated that the final rule will be limited to several provisions designed to reduce unnecessary litigation. This will also, perhaps reduce or eliminate anticipated litigation over the implementation of the new rules by management groups.

The meeting of the Board’s three members at NLRB headquarters in Washington,D.C. will be open to the public, but no public participation will be allowed.  Members Hayes and Becker will discuss and vote on a resolution whether to accept Chairman Pearce’s proposals, proceed to draft a final rule limited to those proposals, and defer the remainder of the proposed rule for further consideration, according to the Board’s press release.

Requests to attend the November 30 meeting should be sent to publicmeeting@nlrb.gov with the following text in the subject line: REQUEST TO ATTEND PUBLIC MEETING REGARDING RIN 3142-AA08. The press release states that the meeting will also be webcast with a link available through the agency’s website, www.nlrb.gov.