After years of long hours and low pay, Lab technicians at a large hospital have decided that they would like to unionize. Describe the process that they will need to go through to secure union representation.

To secure union representation, the lab technicians will first have to build support for unionization and collect authorization cards from over 50% of their coworkers. Once they have enough authorization cards, they can ask the employer to voluntarily recognize the union as their duly appointed bargaining agent. If the hospital accepts, the union will become their representative. If the hospital refuses, the employees will send the cards along with an election petition to the NLRB. The NLRB will determine the appropriate bargaining unit and review the authorization cards to ensure enough cards have been signed. If enough cards are signed, the NLRB will schedule an election. The election is won if more than 50% of those who vote, vote "yes" for union representation. If less than 50% vote "yes," the unionization attempt will have failed.