Following an unsuccessful complaint by a police and security officers’ union, [the National Labor Relations Board](https://www.nlrb.gov/) certified on June 22 that Allied International Union will continue to represent the Department of Public Safety.

During the May 8 secret ballot election to determine union representation, DPS members chose to be represented by Allied International Union. Twenty-four ballots were cast for the United Security and Police Officers of America and 35 were cast for Allied International Union, with one vote against both.

After the vote, a complaint was filed by the United Security and Police Officers of America to the National Labor Relations Board concerning the election. The objection itself listed several allegations that the university supported Allied International Union in the election and took steps to ensure that DPS voted in its favor.

Keesha Gordon, a business representative for the United Security and Police Officers, said the university held several captive audience meetings with employees in an effort to help Allied International Union win the vote. “[The university] wrote letters to the employees to unlawfully promote and help increase Allied International Union’s chances of winning the election,” Gordon said.

“Supervisory staff met with employees separately on several occasions and unlawfully supported the Allied International Union,” Gordon said. “Allied International Union distributed to the employees derogatory information against the USPOA to cause fear and coerce employees to vote for them.”

According to the Report on Objections by Wayne Gold, regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, Region 5, the police officers’ union that filed the complaint failed to comply with the necessary deadlines in presenting evidence of an unfair election.

The report stipulates that evidence to supplement any objection must be supplied within a week after the objection has been filed, unless special permission has been given for an extension. Once the objection was filed on May 13, however, evidence was not sent to the NLRB Regional Office and no extension was requested.

“The Petitioner failed to present any evidence whatsoever in support of its Objections. I find the Petitioner to have proffered mere conclusory allegations, insufficient to meet its burden of providing specific facts to support its objection as defined in the Board’s Rules and Regulations. Therefore, I recommend that Petitioner’s Objections be overruled in their entirety, and that the appropriate Certification of Results issue,” Gold said in the report.

The results were certified despite the complaint, and DPS is currently represented by Allied International Union.

“Prior to the recent NLRB election, representatives from Georgetown’s Human Resources staff met with union members impacted to provide accurate, factual information and answer questions about the NLRB’s election process and to encourage employees to exercise their right to vote in the NLRB secret ballot election,” university spokesperson Julie Bataille said last May.

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