No Reason to Wait: CPAW Urges the NLRB to Overturn Cemex Now

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Coalition to Protect American Workers (CPAW) today urged the National Labor Relations Board to overturn its Biden-era Cemex decision, following the Supreme Court's Monday order declining to review the bargaining order in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific v. NLRB (No. 26-225).

In 2023, the Biden NLRB's Cemex decision changed the rules of union organizing without any action from Congress. Under it, the Board can order an employer to bargain with a union based on signed authorization cards rather than the result of a secret-ballot election. In March, the Sixth Circuit ruled in Brown-Forman Corp. v. NLRB that the Board improperly created that standard through a single adjudication rather than rulemaking.

Monday's order doesn't change that. The Ninth Circuit enforced the bargaining order in the Cemex case under Gissel, the Supreme Court's 1969 standard, without ruling on the Cemex framework. The justices declined to review that decision, but turning down a case is not an endorsement of Cemex. It leaves the question with the Board.

NLRB General Counsel Crystal Carey has made her position clear. In her August 26 memorandum, she wrote that "Cemex is contrary to Supreme Court precedent and sound labor policy," and that "the Board should return to and reaffirm the binding applicability of NLRB v. Gissel Packing Co." Her office has since asked the Board to overturn Cemex in a pending case.

"Cemex let the Biden NLRB bypass the one thing workers should never lose: a vote," said Gene Hamilton, Senior Advisor to CPAW. "This Board has the majority, the General Counsel's request, and a real chance to show the country what a pro-worker NLRB looks like. We urge them to finish the job by overturning Cemex, restoring the secret-ballot election, and putting the decision back in American workers' hands."

CPAW supports unions that earn workers' trust through better pay, safer jobs, and stronger skills. Those unions have never needed a shortcut around the ballot box. The Board has already begun restoring balance in labor law, and overturning Cemex is the natural next step.