The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found merit in 15 unfair labor practices committed by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) since March 2023. For more detailed information about each ULP, click here. During the hearing, the NLRB will present evidence demonstrating how IFES has broken national labor law, and IFES will present evidence in their defense. The trial will start on June 17th, 2024 with discovery, in which both sides will share the evidence they have compiled for the hearing. The hearing will then pause and will resume from July 15th to 24th, 2024.

Keep an eye out here for more updates in this space as the trial commences!

"Employees at the the International Foundation for Electoral Systems — a 37-year-old pro-democracy organization based outside Washington, D.C. — knew they were facing an uphill battle against global autocrats. They did not expect to be locked in a months-long fight with their president and CEO over labor rights within their own organization. When IFES U.S.-based employees voted to form a union in July 2022, they hoped to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic with a stronger voice in decisions about their organization’s future and clearer protections of the rights of headquarters staff."

"Instead, they have been demoralized by the irony of working for an organization that promotes participatory democracy abroad, yet whose leaders have undermined their own grassroots labor movement, multiple employees told Devex on condition of anonymity citing their fear of retaliation."

“'If you want to work in an organization that has a mission for human rights, you have to sacrifice your human right to fair and equal working conditions,' said one employee. 'The hypocrisy of that continues to sting more and more.'”

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