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Federal Register/Vol. 76, No. 168/Tuesday, August 30, 2011/Rules and Regulations
54015

NLRA; the high percentage of
immigrants in the labor force, who are
likely to be unfamiliar with workplace
rights in the United States; studies
indicating that employees and high
school students about to enter the work
force are generally uninformed about
labor law; and the absence of a
requirement that, except in very limited
circumstances, employers or anyone
else inform employees about their
NLRA rights. 75 FR 80411.
A large number of comments contend
that the Board failed to demonstrate the
necessity of the notice posting rule.
They challenge each of the premises
(except the last) underlying the Board’s
belief that employees are generally
unaware of their NLRA rights.
Many comments assert that, contrary
to the Board’s belief, the right to join a
union is widely known and understood
by employees. For example:
-I believe the majority of employees know
about labor unions and how to form a
union, and this poster is unnecessary.49
-[I]t is hard to imagine that there are many
in the US who do not know that they can
try to join a union.
-The fact of the matter is that if a group of
employees are upset enough with their
current management that they feel they
need union representation, they already
know what they need to do as a recourse.
And if they do not immediately know how
to respond, there are plenty of resources for
them.50
-We, the employees, know the unions exist,
* * * If the employees want to know about
unions, they should research it themselves.
It is not as though the information is not
readily available.
Some posit that comparatively few
private sector employees are
represented by unions not because
employees do not know that they can
join unions, but because they have
consciously rejected union
representation for any number of
reasons (e.g., they do not believe that
unions can help them; they do not want
to pay union dues; they deem union
representation unnecessary in light of
other workplace protection statutes). For
example:
-Is it not just as probable that people clearly
understand unions, and they have decided
they want no part of them?
-Labor unions charge approximately 1.3%
of pre-tax earnings for monthly dues. Many
workers, especially those who lost their
good paying jobs during this recession and
have found new jobs at $10.00-$11.00 per
hour wages, need the dues money
themselves, in order to support their
families.

-Membership is down because so many of
the good things unions fought for a long
time ago have been legislated, at either the
Federal or State level, and so the need for
unions has declined.51
-[M]ost employees are very aware of their
rights to unionize and many employees
choose not to do so because of the rights
they already have under our federal and
state laws.
-In fact, one could say that the NLRA and
other employment laws have succeeded to
the degree that unions are NOT necessary
in today’s work environment.52
A few comments question the Board’s
belief that immigrant workers are
unfamiliar with their workplace
rights.53 Several comments argue that
the NLRA has been in effect for nearly
76 years, which is sufficient time for
employees to learn about its
provisions.54
A number of comments argue that the
studies cited in the NPRM are from the
late 1980s and early 1990s and are
therefore out of date 55 (and also, some
say, poorly supported).56 Moreover,
those studies, whatever their value
when published, predate the wide use
of the internet. Now there are many
online sources of information
concerning unions and union
organizing, including the Board’s own
Web site. According to these comments,
it should not be necessary to require
employers to post notices of NLRA
rights because employees who are
interested in learning about unions can
quickly and easily find such
information online.57 One comment,
like some others, argues that ‘‘If it is so
important that employees know their
rights under the NLRB it should be the
government or union whose
responsibility it is to inform them.’’58
Two comments suggest that the Board
conduct a mass media informational
campaign to that end, and one notes that
the Board has in fact recently increased

its public information efforts.59 One
comment urges the Board to conduct a
study to ascertain current employees’
level of NLRA knowledge before
imposing a notice posting requirement.
In contrast, as discussed in more
detail below, numerous comments from
individuals, union organizers, attorneys
representing unions, and worker
assistance organizations agree with the
Board that most employees are
unfamiliar with their NLRA rights.
Immigrant rights organizations state that
immigrant workers largely do not know
about their rights.
After careful consideration of the
comments on both sides of this issue,
the Board believes that many employees
are unaware of their NLRA rights and
that a notice posting requirement is a
reasonable means of promoting greater
knowledge among employees. To the
extent that employees’ general level of
knowledge is uncertain, the Board
believes that the potential benefit of a
notice posting requirement outweighs
the modest cost to employers. Certainly,
the Board has been presented with no
evidence persuasively demonstrating
that knowledge of NLRA rights is
widespread among employees.
The comments asserting that the right
to join a union is widely known cite
little, if any, support for that assertion.
By contrast, many of the comments
contending that employees are
unfamiliar with their NLRA rights base
their statements on personal experience
or on extensive experience representing
or otherwise assisting employees. Many
individual workers, commenting on the
rule, indicate their personal experiences
with the lack of NLRA knowledge and
concurrent strong support for the rule.
For example:
-Even though most of my coworkers and
supervisors were highly intelligent people,
it is my experience that most workers are
almost totally unaware of their rights under
the NLRA.
-Knowing that there is a federal agency out
there that will protect the rights of working
people to organize is essential to the
exercise of those rights.
-I had no idea that I had the right to join
a union, and was often told by my
employer that I could not do so. * * * I
think employers should be required to post
notices so that all employees may make an
informed decision about their rights to join
a union.60
-Workers have rights and they have the
right to know them.61
-[T]here is a lot of ignorance among young
workers and veteran workers alike with
regard to knowledge of their right to

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49 Comment of the Employers Association.
50 Comment of Malt-O-Meal Company (Malt-O-Meal).
51 Comment of Tecton Products.
52 Comment of Printing and Imaging Association of MidAmerica (Printing and Imaging Ass’n).
53 See, e.g., comment of the Printing and Imaging Ass’n.
54 See, e.g., comment of Coalition for a Democratic Workplace.
55 See, e.g., comments of Printing Industries of America and the Portland Cement Association.
56 See, e.g., comments of Cass County Electric Cooperative and Pilchak Cohen & Tice, P.C.
57 As one person states, ‘‘The internet has long ago replaced lunch room bulletin board postings as the means by which employees learn of and exercise their rights.’’
58 Such comments appear to misunderstand that by this rule, the Board is indeed seeking to inform employees of the provisions of the NLRA, using the most accessible venues to reach them, their workplaces.
Other comments question why this rule does not mandate notice posting by governmental employers. The NLRA does not cover such employers. See Section 2(2), 29 U.S.C. 152(2).
59 Comment of Fisher & Phillips, LLP.
60 Comment of Member, Local 150, Operating Engineers.
61 Comment of Organizer, IBEW.

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