By Daniel Wiessner
(Reuters) - Defying the threat of a veto from the White House, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives Thursday voted to block a government labor agency from adopting rules that would speed up the time it takes to unionize workers.
The rules would shorten the period between a union filing a petition to represent workers and an election, from the current median of 38 days to as little as 14 days. Employers would be required to share workers' names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses with unions.
The National Labor Relations Board adopted the rules last year and they are set to take effect April 14.
The NLRB and Democrats who support the new process say it was designed to rein in misconduct by a minority of employers who draw out the union election process in order to threaten and intimidate workers.
"This is a case of the Republican majority seeking to roll back the hard-earned rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively for better wages and benefits," Rep. Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, said during a debate before the House voted 232-186 along party lines.
On March 3, the Senate passed the resolution and the White House said in a statement that Democratic President Barack Obama would likely veto it.
Rep. John Kline, a Republican from Minnesota who sponsored the resolution, said that the new rules would upend a process that has benefited workers and employers for decades.
"Instead of advancing a plan to help stop union intimidation and coercion, the board is making it easier for labor bosses to harass employees and their families," Kline said in the debate.
Republicans are using a rarely-invoked procedure known as congressional review that allows lawmakers to block the enactment of administrative regulations.
A spokeswoman for the NLRB declined to comment on Thursday's vote. The spokeswoman said that NLRB Chairman Mark Pearce's position "remains that streamlining and modernizing the representation case procedures is far overdue."