Businesses are carefully watching a proposed rule from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) about the campaign time before a vote for unionization takes place in workplaces. It appears to favor unions.

The proposed ruling – frequently known as an “ambush election rule” – is seen as a key step to limit how nonunion employers and employees could oppose organizing efforts by unions.

This rule was described as a “near rewrite” of the NLRB's 2011 rule change “that briefly made it onto the books before being struck down on procedural grounds by a federal court in May 2012,” according to a report from the National Legal and Policy Center.