PITTSBURGH—The National Labor Relations Board has impounded ballots cast by a Pittsburgh university's part-time faculty until the school's appeal of the unionization vote is settled.

Duquesne University is appealing the NLRB's rejection of the private, Catholic school's claim that it should be given a religious exemption from an earlier agreement with the United Steelworkers union to allow the election.

The school in May agreed to the vote then reconsidered. The balloting, conducted by mail, began anyway starting June 22 and the votes were to be counted Tuesday.

But NLRB officials tell the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (http://bit.ly/Njyird) that can't happen until the school's appeal is resolved.

The union contends most of Duquesne's roughly 130 part-time faculty members want to form a bargaining unit.

The union says it's disappointed in the delay in counting the ballots.

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Information from: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, http://pghtrib.com