A National Labor Relations Board ruling that lowered the bar for issuing bargaining orders is being weighed by a federal appeals court, with labor lawyers closely watching for whether a significant win for unions is upheld.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is reviewing the NLRB's 2023 decision Cemex Construction Materials Pacific v. NLRB, which established a looser framework for when employers must bargain with unions without an election.