According to a press release issued by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, it and the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, on September 20, 2011, filed a lawsuit against the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) challenging the NLRB’s new rule requiring businesses to post notices explaining employees’ rights to unionize. The case is styled Chamber of Commerce, et al. v. National Labor Relations Board, et al. and was filed in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina.

The press release quoted Robin Conrad, Executive Vice President of the National Chamber Litigation Center, as saying, “[t]he NLRB has no authority to impose any of these requirements. This is nothing more than labor regulation run amok. Adding insult to injury, the Board’s new rule violates the First Amendment by forcing employers to use their own resources to post the NLRB’s pro-union message on the company’s own property.”

The lawsuit claims that the NLRB’s final rule regarding Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act violates the National Labor Relations Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, and the First Amendment of the Constitution. The NLRB’s new rule — which applies to most private employers in the U. S.– would become effective on November 14, 2011.

This action follows a similar one filed by the National Association of Manufacturers on September 8, 2011, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.