Buyer question 01
How do unions run a strike authorization vote?
Start with the union’s constitution, bylaws, strike policy, and any governing agreement. Those documents may set the eligible voters, notice, threshold, ballot method, approval sequence, and authority to call a strike. OLMS says the LMRDA does not provide a general rule for how a strike vote must be taken.
The LMRDA requires reporting unions to disclose their strike-authorization procedures. That is a reporting obligation, not a universal vote method, notice period, quorum, or threshold.
A member authorization does not itself resolve every issue that may matter to a strike. The applicable agreement and law can impose separate conditions.
Sources: Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act · OLMS Interpretative Manual: Reporting and Disclosure · NLRA, 29 U.S.C. Chapter 7, Subchapter II
Buyer question 02
Can it be done online or by phone?
Federal law does not supply a general strike-vote channel rule. An online or telephone method must be evaluated against the union’s governing rules, any applicable agreement, and applicable law. OLMS’s remote-electronic guidance includes remote telephones, but that guidance addresses union officer elections—not strike authorization votes.
Do not treat the officer-election guidance as approval for a strike-authorization method, a safe harbor, or a universal checklist.
Sources: OLMS guidance on remote officer elections · 29 CFR Part 452
Buyer question 03
What records should be kept?
Do not assume the Title IV one-year officer-election record rule automatically governs a strike-authorization vote. Keep the materials required by the union’s constitution, bylaws, strike policy, agreement, and applicable records obligations. Identify the governing retention rule before setting a schedule for ballot, tally, and approval materials.
The statute’s officer-election and Title II reporting obligations are distinct. A union needs to identify which record obligation applies to its own vote rather than rely on a generic retention period.
Sources: Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act · 29 CFR Part 452 · OLMS guidance on remote officer elections