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Theresa Hause, a school bus driver for First Student Inc. in Battle Ground, Washington, has filed an appeal with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to challenge the "merger doctrine." This legal tactic is reportedly used by union officials to prevent workers from voting on union representation and forced dues at their workplace.
The "merger doctrine" allows unions to consolidate smaller bargaining units into larger ones. This move can hinder employees from holding decertification elections or deauthorization elections because they find themselves part of a much larger bargaining unit. According to critics, this makes it difficult for employees to gather enough signatures—30% of the unit—to trigger such votes.
Teamsters and other unions have used this strategy in various cases. For instance, Teamsters officials have blocked votes at multiple locations by claiming that the workers are part of one massive bargaining unit involving over 22,000 drivers across 33 states. In another case, a small group of Wisconsin workers was unable to decertify the Teamsters due to being merged into a multi-company unit with around 24,000 workers.
