OAR 115-025-0021: Showing of Interest Requirements

(1) Many petitions must be supported by a valid showing of interest. (2) A petitioner can fulfill the showing of interest requirement by submitting authorization documents (typically cards) signed by eligible employees. An authorization document must, at a minimum, contain the following: (a) The employee's name, typed or legibly printed; (b) The employee's signature; (c) The date of the employee's signature; (d) A statement that the employee designates the named labor organization as the employee's exclusive representative for purposes of collective bargaining with the employee's employer (if applicable); and (e) A statement that the employee understands how the authorization document may be used. The statement must be consistent with the type of petition being filed. Model language for card check petitions is provided below, in section (4) of this rule. (3) An authorization document must be signed and dated within the 180-day period before the petition is filed. (4)(a) The Board has developed the following model language that may be used for the showing of interest for a card check petition (to certify a new bargaining unit or to add unrepresented employees to an existing unit): I designate [name of labor organization] as the exclusive bargaining representative for the purposes of collective bargaining with [name of employer]. I understand that my signature may be used to obtain certification of the above-named labor organization as the exclusive bargaining representative, without an election. [Employee Name] [Employee Signature] [Date Signed] (b) The authorization document may use different language than subsection (4)(a) of this rule, but the document must include the same information for the authorization to be valid. (5)(a) When authorization cards are used for the showing of interest, the petitioner should arrange the cards alphabetically by last name. Authorizations that do not substantially comply with this rule will not be counted. (b) An electronic record and an electronic signature, as those terms are defined in ORS 84.004, may be used to prepare and sign authorizations. (c) Notwithstanding section (2) of this rule, and except as otherwise provided in subsection (d) of this section, a petition submitted under this Division as an electronic record that includes a signed authorization using an electronic signature must: (A) Include the following information: (i) The name of the signer; (ii) The signer’s email address or social media account; (iii) The signer’s telephone number; (iv) The exact language that the signer is assenting to by providing the electronic signature; (v) The date of submission of the electronic signature; and (vi) The name of the public employer that employs the signer; and (B) Be accompanied by a verification declaration by the petitioning party: (i) Specifying the technology used to obtain and verify the signatures; (ii) Providing the methods used to ensure the authenticity of the signature; and (iii) Confirming that the information transmitted to the signer was the same information to which the signer assented. (d) If the technology used to provide the signed authorization does not support digital signatures that are suited to satisfy the requirements of the verification declaration described in subsection (c) of this section, the petitioning party must submit evidence that, after the petitioning party obtained an electronic signature, the party promptly transmitted a confirmation transmission to the signer confirming that all of the information described under subparagraphs (c)(A)(i) to (vi) of this section is true. (6)(a) The showing of interest submitted under these rules will not be furnished to any of the parties except the party that filed the showing of interest, which may examine cards or petitions when signatures are deemed invalid. (b) The showing of interest will be destroyed when the file is closed unless the party filing the showing of interest requests that its showing of interest be returned. The Board will return the original showing of interest to a petitioner upon request if the petition is withdrawn.