WASHINGTON—From Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board received 3,286 union election petitions, up 27 percent since FY 2023, when the agency received 2,593 petitions. This is more than double the number of petitions received since FY 2021, when the NLRB received 1,638 petitions.

Similarly, from FY 2023 to FY 2024, unfair labor practice charge filings increased 7 percent (from 19,869 to 21,292 cases). In sum, the NLRB’s field offices received a total of 24,578 cases, the highest total case intake in more than a decade. 

“The surge in cases we’ve received in the last few years is a testament to workers knowing and exercising their rights under the National Labor Relations Act,” said NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo.

The increase in cases filed in the NLRB’s field offices also caused an increase in cases for the adjudicative side of the agency. In FY 2024, the board received 393 unfair labor practice and representation cases, up 22 percent from 321 cases last year. The board increased its productivity in FY 2024, issuing 259 decisions—a 5 percent uptick from FY 2023. As has been the case for the last several years, however, the board’s case-processing achievements were overtaken by a significant jump in case intake, ending FY2024 with 288 pending cases—46 percent more than the 197 pending cases at the end of FY 2023.