Question

Antonio and Sylvia are dissatisfied with their working conditions at Piedmont Manufacturing, so they decide to organize a union. Antonio and Sylvia hold several meetings after work and start talking to individual employees about becoming union members. Sylvia has union authorization cards printed up and distributes them to all employees. Sixty percent of the employees sign a union authorization card. Antonio and Sylvia present the authorization cards to Piedmont and ask for formal recognition of the union. Piedmont refuses to recognize the union based on the authorization cards. If Sylvia and Antonio petition for an election:

A. no election will be held; Sylvia and Antonio's remedy is to gather authorization cards from thirty percent of the remaining employees.
B. an election will be held if Sylvia and Antonio can show that a majority of the workers support a union.
C. an election will be held if Sylvia and Antonio can show that at least thirty percent of the workers support a union.
D. no election will be held, but they can sue Piedmont because it is legally required that the employer recognize the union after receiving authorization cards from a majority of the employees.

Answer 1

Antonio and Sylvia need to petition for an election with the NLRB. The election will be held as they have the support of at least thirty percent of the workers, which is the minimum requirement under U.S. labor law.

Step-by-step explanation:

When Antonio and Sylvia present union authorization cards with signatures from sixty percent of Piedmont Manufacturing's employees, they are demonstrating significant support for the union amongst the workforce.

According to the federal labor laws in the United States, an employer is not legally mandated to recognize a union based solely on authorization cards. Rather, an official election must be held through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to confirm the desire for union representation.

If Sylvia and Antonio wish to move forward with forming a union after Piedmont Manufacturing's refusal to recognize the union, the correct course of action would involve filing a petition for an election with the NLRB.

If they can demonstrate that at least thirty percent of the workers support the union through signed authorization cards, which they already have with sixty percent, an election will be mandated. Therefore, the correct option in regards to their next step, assuming U.S. labor law applies, is:

C. an election will be held if Sylvia and Antonio can show that at least thirty percent of the workers support a union.