Cite as: 522 U. S. 359 (1998)
Opinion of Rehnquist, C. J.
the same standard for polls and unilateral withdrawals is reasonable because the employer can still use polls to confirm a loss of majority support. As a practical matter, this leaves little room for polling, supra, at 381. But even conceding some remaining value to polling, the Board's rationale fails to address the basic inconsistency of imposing the same standard on two actions having dramatically different effects. Surely a unilateral withdrawal of recognition creates a greater disruption of the bargaining relationship and greater "doubts" in the minds of employees than does a poll. Consistent with the Board's reliance on such disruption to justify its polling standard, the standard for unilateral withdrawals should surely be higher.
The Board also asserts that having the same standard for RM elections and employer polls is justified by common practical and legal consequences, i. e., the risk of the union's loss of its position as bargaining representative. But this argument fails as a factual matter. As the Board admits, an RM election is binding on a losing union for one year, 29 U. S. C. § 159(c)(3), while a union losing a poll may petition for a Board election at any time.3 Brief for Respondent 40, n. 12. These differing consequences suggest the standard for polling should be lower. The Board's "avowed preference for RM elections," without some further legal or factual grounds for support, would not appear to justify a higher standard for polling. See ante, at 365. But in any event, that the Board could perhaps justify a higher standard for polling does not mean that it is rational to have the two standards equal, especially since doing so results in RM elections and
3 On the other hand, if the union wins an employer poll, the employer apparently must recognize the union, Nation-Wide Plastics, Inc., 197 N. L. R. B. 996 (1972), which is then entitled to a conclusive presumption of majority support for a reasonable time to permit bargaining. If an agreement is reached, a contract bar will apply. Auciello Iron Works, Inc. v. NLRB, 517 U. S. 781, 791 (1996). A losing employer thus would be barred for some time from conducting another poll.
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