For only the fourth time in his presidency, on March 31, President Obama vetoed a joint resolution passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives that disapproved – and would have voided – the NLRB’s new union election rules. In a “Memorandum of Disapproval,” the President stated that because S.J. Res. 8 would “block modest but overdue reforms to simplify and streamline private sector union elections” and “undermine a streamlined democratic process that allows American workers to freely choose to make their voices heard, I cannot support it.”

The NLRB’s new election rules – derided by business and employer groups as the “ambush” election rules – are scheduled to go into effect on April 14. However, two separate lawsuits challenging the rules remain pending, and decisions in them are anticipated prior to the effective date of the rules.