The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee yesterday approved one of President Trump’s nominees to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the main federal labor law enforcement agency, but tabled another. The upshot of this is that even if the full Senate confirms the nominee who made it out of committee, the NLRB will still lack a quorum to act for the foreseeable future. And that may be exactly what the labor movement wants.
Unions are attempting to do an end run around the NLRB, which has leaned rightward under the Trump administrations, by getting union-friendly states to take over its enforcement duties. Both California and New York in September passed laws allowing workers to file complaints with the state labor agencies if the NLRB is inactive.
Similar legislation has reportedly been introduced in Massachusetts, and it’s a sure bet that unions are lobbying lawmakers in other union-friendly states to do the same. The NLRB has sued New York over its law. The Board will likely also challenge California’s law, which passed last week.
The state laws would undermine the role of the NLRB, which was created to enforce the National Labor Relations Act and help ensure “labor peace” – i.e., more amicable relations between unions and management by creating a consistent set of rules for both sides. States could potentially give unions tremendous leverage in conflicts with management by changing the rules currently set down by the NLRB. Just...
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