The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a lawsuit challenging a California law that would give the state’s Public Employment Relations Board authority to certify union elections and adjudicate unfair labor practice charges in instances where the NLRB is impaired or when the state determines that the board has ceded its authority. California’s Public Employment Relations Board historically has overseen union elections and disputes involving state and local government employees, but the new law extends its jurisdiction to include private-sector workers who would traditionally be covered by the National Labor Relations Act in either of two scenarios: (1) when the NLRA has been repealed, narrowed, or enjoined; or (2) when the NLRB has expressly and implicitly ceded its jurisdiction.
