🗞️ Caught in Their Own Petition: NLRB Dismisses Two Election Petitions at Phoenix Energy

On March 18, 2026, NLRB Region 29 Regional Director Teresa Poor issued an order dismissing two consolidated election petitions at Phoenix Energy Management, Inc. and PEM Incorporated — a Brooklyn-based employer treated as a single entity — that sought to remove Regional Shop Local Union No. 852, Ironworkers as the bargaining representative of production and maintenance employees.

The petitions were filed in September 2024: one by the employer itself (an RM petition) and one by employee Garrett Hansen (an RD, or decertification, petition). Both sought a vote on whether workers still wanted union representation. A pre-election hearing was held in October 2024, but the proceedings were overtaken by a consolidating set of unfair labor practice (ULP) charges filed by the union.

In February 2026, the NLRB's General Counsel issued a consolidated complaint alleging a wide range of misconduct by the employer, including: threatening employees with layoffs and unspecified reprisals for supporting the union; promising better wages in exchange for withdrawing support; creating an alter ego corporation (PEM Incorporated) to divert bargaining unit work and sidestep collective bargaining obligations; refusing to recognize and bargain with the union; withholding requested information; and — critically — providing more than minimal assistance to employees in circulating the decertification petition itself.

That last allegation is legally significant. Under established NLRB precedent, employers are prohibited from actively soliciting, encouraging, or assisting in the initiation or signing of a decertification petition. The complaint alleged that the RD petitioner, Garrett Hansen, acted as an agent of the employer in gathering signatures — which, if proven, would mean the employer helped initiate the very petition it was simultaneously using to question the union's standing.

Regional Director Poor applied the Board's "merit-determination dismissal" framework, affirmed in Rieth-Riley Construction Co., 371 NLRB No. 109 (2022), which permits dismissal of a representation petition when a regional director finds merit to a ULP charge alleging conduct that would "irrevocably taint the petition and any related election." Because the complaint seeks an affirmative bargaining order — a remedy that would require the employer to recognize and bargain with the union — no question concerning representation can exist while that remedy is pending. The petitions are dismissed subject to reinstatement only if the ULP allegations are ultimately found to lack merit.

The deadline to request Board review of the dismissal is April 1, 2026.

Key Points

• Two petitions dismissed: An employer-filed RM petition and employee Garrett Hansen's RD (decertification) petition were both dismissed in a single March 18, 2026 order.
• Employer allegedly ran the decertification: The complaint charges that Hansen acted as an agent of the employer, who circulated the petition during working hours — a violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA.
• Alter ego allegation: PEM Incorporated is alleged to be an alter ego corporation created to divert bargaining unit work and evade bargaining obligations — a recognized category of NLRB violation.
• Affirmative bargaining order sought: The pending ULP complaint requests a remedy that would compel the employer to bargain, which legally precludes holding a decertification election in the interim.
• Merit-determination dismissal standard: Under Rieth-Riley (2022), a regional director can dismiss a petition before a hearing if a related ULP charge has been found meritorious and the conduct would taint any election result.
• Reinstatement is conditional: Per the order, the petitions may only be reinstated if the ULP allegations that caused the dismissal are ultimately found to be without merit. Reinstatement under any other circumstances will be denied.
• Review deadline: Parties may request Board review by April 1, 2026, via the NLRB's e-filing system at nlrb.gov.

Primary Source Author: Teresa Poor, Regional Director, NLRB Region 29

Primary Source: Order Dismissing Petitions, Case Nos. 29-RM-350311 & 29-RD-351215, Phoenix Energy Management, Inc. and PEM Incorporated (March 18, 2026)

Primary Source Link: NLRB Case 29-CA-354885

Supplemental Links

• NLRB: Board Affirms Merit-Determination Dismissal Process (Rieth-Riley, 2022)
• NLRB: Decertification Elections — Employee Rights
• NLRB: Employer Obligations — What's the Law
• NLRB: Interfering with Employee Rights — Section 8(a)(1)
• NLRB: The NLRB Process (RC, RD, RM Cases)
• Georgetown Law Poverty Journal: NLRB Revives Blocking Charge Doctrine (2024)