Employment Law Question
Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 3:44 pm
What is the difference between union recognition and union certification for the purposes of the NLRA? My professor uses those terms interchangeably.
By "recognition," your prof probably means voluntary recognition, where the ER agrees to recognize and bargain with the union upon union's showing of majority support in the bargaining unit, thus making an election unnecessary.
By "certification," prof may mean NLRB certification of a union following majority support through a Board-conducted election under NLRA ยงย 9. Typically, this follows a demand for recognition (obviously, union would typically prefer vol. rec.) and ER's RM petition to the Board for an election.
There are also a few other paths to recognition, e.g. Gissel bargaining orders. The above two are the two primary routes.