Employer Postcertification Polls to Determine Union Support

This Note evaluates these competing standards in light of the two major policy objectives of the NLRA: industrial stability and employee free choice. It concludes that the courts of appeals properly apply a less stringent standard. Part I considers employer polling in the larger context of the general law of employer interrogation. This section concludes that the Board’s standard for postcertification polling deviates significantly from the general law of employer interrogation as well as the more specific rules established for precertification polling. The remainder of this Note demonstrates that the Board’s distinctions between pre- and postcertification polling do not justify this deviation. Part II argues that allowing properly conducted employer polling enhances rather than harms employee free choice. Part III finds that the Act’s policy of encouraging industrial stability also fails to support the Board’s standard. Finally, Part IV concludes that even if employer polling disrupts existing bargaining relations to some extent, that disruption is consistent with the fundamental goals of the NLRA.