Article 20 of the State Labor Law is called the NY State Employment Relations Act. It provides employees in New York State with the right to collectively bargain with their employers. NYS ERB protects those rights by adjudicating allegations of unfair labor practices by an employer and by processing representation petitions. While the Act covers all private employers and employees in the state, under federal law, NYS ERB is precluded from exercising jurisdiction over any employers that are engaged in interstate commerce and thus covered by the National Labor Relations Act. We have unfair labor practice and representation jurisdiction only over those employers that are so small that they do not reach the NLRB thresholds for interstate commerce, e.g. some musicians, single residential buildings and other small employers, or those employers that the NLRB has chosen not to cover for public policy reasons, such as racetracks and religious schools. Only private industry employees come before us, while public ones go before PERB.

The Board is empowered to conduct representation elections and showing of interest reviews (card counts) for private employers and unions not covered by the National Labor Relations Act. Employees or union representatives may file a Petition for Investigation and Certification of Representatives (ER-2) and employers may file a Petition by Employer for Investigation (ER-3).

When a representation petition is filed, ERB staff does an initial investigation. If the Board finds that issues related to the representation petition need to be resolved, an administrative law judge holds a hearing.

For further information, please contact Regina Shields, Labor Relations Examiner, at 212-352-6445.