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🗞️ Shutdown Stalls, Stipulation Holds: IBEW Wins Louisiana Energy Plant Election After Government Funding Lapse Delays Vote

NLRB Region 15 certifies IBEW Local 2286 as bargaining rep for Entergy Louisiana production technicians after ruling that a government shutdown-caused election delay did not justify expanding voter eligibility beyond the original stipulated cutoff date.

onthelaborfront

onthelaborfront

— 4 min read
🗞️ Shutdown Stalls, Stipulation Holds: IBEW Wins Louisiana Energy Plant Election After Government Funding Lapse Delays Vote

NLRB Region 15 Regional Director M. Kathleen McKinney issued a Decision on Challenges, Revised Tally of Ballots, and Certification of Representative in Entergy Louisiana, LLC, Case 15-RC-372529, certifying the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2286 as the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of a unit of production technicians at an Entergy Louisiana facility.

The case turned on a narrow but consequential procedural question: whether a federal government funding lapse that postponed a scheduled election constituted sufficient grounds to revise the voter eligibility cutoff date established in the parties' Stipulated Election Agreement.

IBEW Local 2286 filed its RC petition on September 2, 2025. The parties reached a Stipulated Election Agreement approved September 10, 2025, setting a voter eligibility cutoff at the payroll period ending August 29, 2025, with the election scheduled for October 7, 2025. On October 1, 2025, the NLRB ceased all nonessential operations due to a lapse in appropriated funds, furloughing approximately 1,600 of its 1,611 staff. Normal operations resumed November 13, 2025, and the Regional Director rescheduled the election to December 9, 2025 — explicitly preserving all other terms of the original agreement.

The December 9 election produced 9 votes for the Petitioner, 8 votes against, and 3 challenged ballots, a number sufficient to affect the outcome. The Board challenged three voters — Brandt Guillotte, Kayden Lopez, and Christian David — because they did not appear on the Employer's voter list. The Employer's position statement established that all three had received job offers on September 5, 2025, and began work on October 13, 2025 — after the August 29 eligibility cutoff but before the rescheduled election.

Entergy Louisiana argued the shutdown constituted extenuating and unprecedented circumstances warranting revision of the eligibility date. The company contended the NLRB Casehandling Manual grants Regional Directors discretion to update eligibility dates, and that rescheduling the election without revising the cutoff effectively disenfranchised the three workers. The Employer also argued that the hiring process for these individuals had begun before the petition was filed on September 2, 2025, though job offers were not formally extended until September 5, 2025 — three days after the petition.

IBEW countered that the Stipulated Election Agreement's language was clear and unambiguous, that the Regional Director's rescheduling order expressly preserved all original terms, and that Board precedent did not require an eligibility date revision under these circumstances. The Petitioner cited Tekweld Solutions, Inc., 361 NLRB 201 (2014) as controlling — a case in which the Board upheld a Regional Director's refusal to revise a stipulated eligibility date despite an eight-month gap between the cutoff and the actual election date.

Regional Director McKinney sustained all three challenges. She found that the NLRB Casehandling Manual contained no instruction requiring the Region to independently revise a stipulated eligibility date following a funding lapse. Drawing on the Board's long-standing treatment of election agreements as binding contracts under T & L Leasing, 318 NLRB 324 (1995), she found the terms clear and unambiguous. The Regional Director further noted that the delays in Interlake Steamship, 178 NLRB 128 (1969), and Hartz Mountain, 260 NLRB 323 (1982) — cases the Employer cited as precedent for updating eligibility — were caused by party conduct, not a government funding lapse. The Seventh Circuit's decision in Jam Productions, Ltd. v. NLRB, 893 F.3d 1037 (7th Cir. 2018) further supported her position, as that court upheld a Regional Director's refusal to move an eligibility date despite a seven-month delay caused by a union's unfair labor practice charge.

McKinney also emphasized a structural rationale for upholding the original cutoff: allowing employees hired after the stipulated eligibility date to vote would give employers — the party controlling hiring decisions — undue influence over the composition of the electorate, undermining the purpose of establishing a fixed eligibility date in the first place.

The three challenged ballots were excluded. The Revised Tally showed 17 eligible voters, 9 votes for IBEW Local 2286, and 8 votes against, resulting in a majority for the Petitioner. McKinney issued the Certification of Representative, with an appended Notice of Bargaining Obligation advising Entergy Louisiana that its obligation to refrain from unilaterally changing bargaining unit terms and conditions began as of the December 9, 2025 election date. Any party seeking Board review must file by March 12, 2026.

Key Points

  • IBEW Local 2286 was certified as the exclusive bargaining representative of Entergy Louisiana production technicians (Production Technician I through CRO-Sr.) following an election held December 9, 2025, with a final tally of 9 to 8.
  • The election was originally scheduled for October 7, 2025, but was postponed indefinitely when the NLRB shut down due to a lapse in appropriated funds beginning October 1, 2025; normal operations resumed November 13, 2025.
  • Three employees hired after the August 29, 2025, voter eligibility cutoff — but before the rescheduled election — had their ballots challenged and ultimately excluded from the count.
  • The Regional Director found no authority in the NLRB Casehandling Manual requiring revision of a stipulated eligibility date due to a government funding lapse, and cited controlling Board precedent (Tekweld Solutions) supporting adherence to the original agreement.
  • The Regional Director found that unlike prior cases where eligibility dates were revised, the election delay in this case was not caused by either party's conduct, making those precedents inapplicable.
  • Allowing employer-hired employees outside the stipulated eligibility window to vote would give employers — as the party with hiring authority — undue power to influence the composition of the voting electorate.
  • A Notice of Bargaining Obligation was issued, establishing that Entergy Louisiana's obligation to avoid unilateral changes to bargaining unit conditions began on the December 9, 2025 election date, not the February 26, 2026 certification date; unilateral changes risk Section 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(5) violations.
  • Any party may seek Board review of this decision by filing a Request for Review by March 12, 2026.

Primary Source Author: M. Kathleen McKinney, Regional Director, NLRB Region 15

Primary Source: Entergy Louisiana, LLC, Case 15-RC-372529 — Decision on Challenges, Revised Tally of Ballots, and Certification of Representative (February 26, 2026)

Primary Source Link: https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d45841e7f6f

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