## Facts

- A union sought certification as the bargaining representative of an employer’s employees in a Board-conducted representation election under NLRA § 9.
- During the pre-election campaign, the employer mailed employees a lengthy anti-union communication describing perceived adverse consequences of unionization.
- The union requested that the employer provide employee names and home addresses so the union could communicate directly with eligible voters; the employer refused.
- A secret-ballot election proceeded, and the union lost by a wide margin.
- The union filed post-election objections, asserting the refusal to provide contact information impaired the union’s ability to communicate with employees.
- The Board used the representation proceeding to announce a generally applicable disclosure requirement for future elections (the “Excelsior list”), and did not set aside the election solely based on the nondisclosure.

## Issues

1. Whether the NLRB may require an employer, to support fair representation elections, to furnish a list of eligible voters’ names and addresses for distribution to participating parties.
2. Whether an employer’s refusal to provide such contact information should, by itself, warrant setting aside an election.
3. Whether the Board should announce the disclosure requirement prospectively rather than apply it to the election at issue.

## Decision

- The Board announced a rule requiring employers in Board-conducted representation elections to provide the Regional Director a list of the names and addresses of all eligible voters within a specified period after the direction of election.
- The Regional Director would make the list available to all parties to the election.
- The Board applied the new requirement prospectively to future elections and did not invalidate the election at issue solely because the employer refused to provide the list.

## Legal Principles

- The Board has authority under NLRA § 9 to regulate election procedures to protect employees’ free choice of bargaining representative.
- A fair election requires more than the absence of fraud or coercion; election procedure may include measures that ensure employees can receive communications from competing viewpoints.
- Requiring disclosure of eligible voters’ names and addresses serves election fairness by reducing disparities in access to employees between employers (with workplace access) and unions (often lacking home contact information).
- The Board may adopt uniform election administration requirements to avoid case-by-case litigation over whether nondisclosure was prejudicial, and may apply such requirements prospectively.

## Conclusion

The Board established the “Excelsior list” requirement: in future representation elections, employers must provide eligible voters’ names and addresses to the Regional Director for distribution to the parties to support informed employee choice and fair election conditions.


Excelsior Underwear, Inc., 156 N.L.R.B. 1236 (1966)