Senior Vice President, Employment Policy Division, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has scheduled a number of upcoming hearings on the subject of labor law. These include a hearing on alleged company interference with union organizing, a special hearing on whether to issue a subpoena for the CEO of Starbucks to appear before the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee (of which Sen. Sanders is the Chairman), and another hearing to decide whether the Chairman will have the authority to launch unlimited “investigations” into alleged “violations of federal labor law by major corporations.”
These hearings, no doubt, will prove entertaining, at least to those who follow labor law. But they are likely to simply reprise the same pro-union talking points articulated by Sen. Sanders in previous hearings. What would really make them interesting is if some unexpected questions were asked by the Chairman. Given that this is highly unlikely, this blog poses some important questions here:
1. Why has the Teamsters Union received nearly 800 Unfair Labor Practice charges (ULPs)?
This is far in excess of the companies currently in the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) crosshairs. Granted, the vast majority of ULPs are dismissed as being without merit, or withdrawn, so the volume of charges against the Teamsters should be taken with a grain of salt. But the mere fact that companies have been hit with ULPs forms much of the basis for Sen. Sanders’...
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