NLRB Orders Election at Cement Masons’ Request
On September 30, 2014, Local 891 of the Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons International Association (OPCMIA) obtained an order from Region 5 of the National Labor Relations Board directing a representation election among cement masons performing concrete finishing work for Baker DC in DC, Virginia, and Maryland. Bredhoff & Kaiser, which has represented OPCMIA Local 891 for over 35 years, successfully argued that the petitioned-for unit of cement masons was an appropriate unit pursuant to the NLRB’s community of interest standard articulated in Specialty Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center of Mobile, 357 NLRB No. 83 (2011).
Following the order, Baker DC requested NLRB review, asserting both that Specialty Healthcare did not apply to the construction industry and that an appropriate bargaining unit of its employees must include other construction craft workers, such as carpenters and laborers. On October 23, 2014, the NLRB rejected Baker DC’s request for review of the Regional Director’s decision, holding that Specialty Healthcare’s principles apply in the construction industry and that the petitioned-for group of only cement masons shared a community of interests sufficient to be an appropriate bargaining unit under the National Labor Relations Act.