Labor Organizing Activity Surges with Increase in Representation Election Petitions: Ogletree Deakins Data Shows Significant Rise and Faster Processing Time

Labor organizing activity has seen a significant rise over the past two years, with nearly as many representation election petitions filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from 2022 through 2023 as the previous three years. According to public filing data compiled by Ogletree Deakins, the number of petitions filed increased in 2022 and 2023, surpassing the numbers from the prior three years.

One interesting trend that emerged was the restaurant industry jumping to the top of the list of industries in terms of the number of petitions filed between 2022 and 2023. California, New York, and Illinois remained the top states for petition filings, but Oregon and Washington also joined the top five states in the number of RC petitions filed.

The average proposed unit size also saw an increase, jumping to eighty-eight from fifty-four, while the average time to close petitions dropped from sixty-six days to sixty-three days between the same periods. This decrease in processing time is a positive development for labor organizing efforts.

The data compiled by Ogletree Deakins’ NLRB Union Election Petitions Tracker provides valuable insights into the labor organizing landscape, allowing users to analyze trends by region, state, employer, union, and industry sector. With the anticipated implementation of expedited election rules by the NLRB in 2024, it is expected that the time between the filing of a petition and an election will continue to shrink, further impacting labor organizing activity.