The NLRB Is Once Again Dismissing Meritless Charges

A new Center for American Progress report is upset about something employers should welcome: the NLRB is throwing out more unfair labor practice charges filed against employers.

Per CAP’s analysis of NLRB case data, from January 2025 through April 2026, union-filed charges against employers were dismissed 34.7% of the time — up about 14 points from 2024. Worker-filed charges against employers got tossed 67.4% of the time, up about 11 points.

CAP frames this as the Board abandoning workers. I read it differently.

A charge is just an allegation. Anyone can file one. The Board’s job is to investigate and separate the real violations from the noise. For a decade the agency operated with a thumb firmly on the scale — chasing theories, stacking on “enhanced remedies,” treating every employer as guilty on arrival. What CAP calls “dismissal” is often just the Board declining to prosecute cases that don’t hold up.

Notably, the new intake rules require the charging party to actually back up the allegation with documents within two weeks. That isn’t a loophole. That’s basic evidence.

The same report notes 82% of worker charges against unions get dismissed — and always have. I haven’t seen that published anywhere before.

Fair enforcement cuts both ways. A Board that dismisses weak cases isn’t anti-worker. It’s doing its job.