Late yesterday, National Labor Relations Board Chairman Mark G. Pearce released the content of the Resolution proposed for toady's vote. The Board is scheduled to vote to approve certain portions of the rules it considered earlier this year to alter the Board's election process and expedite union representation elections. These are the rules that would implement so-called "Quickie" or "Ambush" elections. The text of the Resolution is available from the Board's website here. The Board's news release is available here.
In light of the 2-1 Democratic majority on the Board (Chairman Pearce and Member Craig Becker), it is likely that the Board will approve the Resolution to modify election procedures -- as long as the lone Republican on the Board, Member Brian Hayes, remains on the Board. There were rumblings at the end of last week and the beginning of this week that Member Hayes may resign to prevent the Board from having the quorum necessary to approve the Resolution. As of yet, however, there is no word whether Member Hayes will resign. But many will be paying close attention to his actions leading up to the meeting scheduled for 2:30 p.m. today.
Showing posts with label National Labor Relations Board; Recess Appointments; NLRA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National Labor Relations Board; Recess Appointments; NLRA. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Showdown at the NLRB Corral
The NLRB scheduled a vote for November 30, 2011 on its controversial new rule governing union representation elections, which would implement what some have referred to as "Quickie Elections." Under the new rules, representation elections would be held within 10 to 21 days of filing a petition for an election. This timeframe, reduced from an average of 42 days, would limit an employer's ability to communicate with its employees about what it means to be unionized before the employees vote.
Mark Pearce, chair of the NLRB, called for the vote, saying that some provisions of the proposal should be approved before the end of 2011, when the term of member Craig Becker is set to expire. When Becker's term expires, the Board would have only two members and would not have a quorum necessary to take official actions. Member Hayes, the sole Republican member of the Board, has threatened to resign prior to the Board's vote to deprive the Board of the authority to implement the controversial and decidedly pro-labor rules. It remains to be seen whether Member Hayes will actually resign to prevent the Board's action, but you can expect that the bullets at the NLRB Corral will continue to fly for the next several weeks.
Mark Pearce, chair of the NLRB, called for the vote, saying that some provisions of the proposal should be approved before the end of 2011, when the term of member Craig Becker is set to expire. When Becker's term expires, the Board would have only two members and would not have a quorum necessary to take official actions. Member Hayes, the sole Republican member of the Board, has threatened to resign prior to the Board's vote to deprive the Board of the authority to implement the controversial and decidedly pro-labor rules. It remains to be seen whether Member Hayes will actually resign to prevent the Board's action, but you can expect that the bullets at the NLRB Corral will continue to fly for the next several weeks.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Obama Fills Two of Three Vacant Positions On NLRB With Recess Appointments
One of a President’s most effective tools to change labor law to his liking without passing legislation is by appointing members to the National Labor Relations Board who support his view of the National Labor Relations Act. The National Labor Relations Act (the federal law that governs labor law in the private sector) provides for a five-member Board with each member serving a 5-year term. As the terms expire, the President nominates replacements, which must be approved by the Senate before they are seated on the Board. By tradition, three of the members are from the same political party as the President in the White House.
Since January 2008, the Board has been operating with only two of its five allotted members. President Obama nominated three replacements after taking office, but none had been confirmed by the Senate.
One of the replacements Obama nominated, Craig Becker, was highly controversial. Becker was serving as associate general counsel for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO, one of the most aggressive unions in lobbying for legislation, including the Employee Free Choice Act. The President of the SEIU, Andy Stern, has been in the news for being the most frequent visitor to the Obama White house.
Much of the controversy over Becker stems from two of his law review articles. Becker has expressed the view that employers should have only very restricted, if any, role in union elections. He believes that employers have no legitimate interests in union organizing. Because of this, and other, controversial positions, Becker’s nomination was hotly contested in the Senate. Many employers and employer groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, were concerned that Becker would try to implement provisions of the Employee Free Choice Act through Board decisions since the EFCA had bogged down in Congress. Many Senators shared these concerns about Becker’s pro-labor bias and refused to approve his nomination. The Senate agreed to pass on Obama’s other two less controversial nominations (one Democrat and one Republican), but the Senate Democrats insisted that the nominees be considered as a package. Therefore, the nominees were never confirmed by the Senate.
Now that the healthcare reform bill has passed and Congress is in recess, Obama took the opportunity to make two recess appointments to the Board. Recess appointments do not require approval from the Senate. Last Saturday (March 27th), Obama announced the recess appointments of Craig Becker and Mark Gaston Pearce, the two Democrat nominees. Obama did not nominate Brian Hayes, his Republican nominee, for a recess appointment. Accordingly, the Obama Labor Board currently consists of four members: three Democrats and one Republican.
Following the announcement of the recess appointments, pro-labor groups were expectably pleased. One such group, American Rights at Work, congratulated President Obama and asked its members to send him electronic “thank you notes.” According to the group's email distribution, President Obama “used his executive power to held the NLRB tackle its backlog of critical cases, making ‘recess appointments’ when Congress left town.” The email also quoted Obama as saying “I simply cannot allow partisan politics to stand in the way of the basic functioning of government.”
Some commentators suspected that the two-member Board consisting of one Democrat (Liebman) and one Republican (Schaumber) were deciding only the “easy” cases – the ones they could agree on – while leaving the more significant, and more contested cases until the Board had at least a three-member quorum. Now that the Board has its three-member quorum, it will likely start deciding those more significant and contested cases. With a strong pro-union majority, it is reasonable to expect decisions that will heavily favor organized labor.
We will continue to monitor the recess appointments and the Board’s activity with its new pro-union majority. If you have any questions about the Board decisions we see coming down the pike and how they could affect your business operations, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Since January 2008, the Board has been operating with only two of its five allotted members. President Obama nominated three replacements after taking office, but none had been confirmed by the Senate.
One of the replacements Obama nominated, Craig Becker, was highly controversial. Becker was serving as associate general counsel for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO, one of the most aggressive unions in lobbying for legislation, including the Employee Free Choice Act. The President of the SEIU, Andy Stern, has been in the news for being the most frequent visitor to the Obama White house.
Much of the controversy over Becker stems from two of his law review articles. Becker has expressed the view that employers should have only very restricted, if any, role in union elections. He believes that employers have no legitimate interests in union organizing. Because of this, and other, controversial positions, Becker’s nomination was hotly contested in the Senate. Many employers and employer groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, were concerned that Becker would try to implement provisions of the Employee Free Choice Act through Board decisions since the EFCA had bogged down in Congress. Many Senators shared these concerns about Becker’s pro-labor bias and refused to approve his nomination. The Senate agreed to pass on Obama’s other two less controversial nominations (one Democrat and one Republican), but the Senate Democrats insisted that the nominees be considered as a package. Therefore, the nominees were never confirmed by the Senate.
Now that the healthcare reform bill has passed and Congress is in recess, Obama took the opportunity to make two recess appointments to the Board. Recess appointments do not require approval from the Senate. Last Saturday (March 27th), Obama announced the recess appointments of Craig Becker and Mark Gaston Pearce, the two Democrat nominees. Obama did not nominate Brian Hayes, his Republican nominee, for a recess appointment. Accordingly, the Obama Labor Board currently consists of four members: three Democrats and one Republican.
Following the announcement of the recess appointments, pro-labor groups were expectably pleased. One such group, American Rights at Work, congratulated President Obama and asked its members to send him electronic “thank you notes.” According to the group's email distribution, President Obama “used his executive power to held the NLRB tackle its backlog of critical cases, making ‘recess appointments’ when Congress left town.” The email also quoted Obama as saying “I simply cannot allow partisan politics to stand in the way of the basic functioning of government.”
Some commentators suspected that the two-member Board consisting of one Democrat (Liebman) and one Republican (Schaumber) were deciding only the “easy” cases – the ones they could agree on – while leaving the more significant, and more contested cases until the Board had at least a three-member quorum. Now that the Board has its three-member quorum, it will likely start deciding those more significant and contested cases. With a strong pro-union majority, it is reasonable to expect decisions that will heavily favor organized labor.
We will continue to monitor the recess appointments and the Board’s activity with its new pro-union majority. If you have any questions about the Board decisions we see coming down the pike and how they could affect your business operations, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
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