On August 26, 2026, NLRB General Counsel Crystal S. Carey issued Memorandum GC 26-04, “Further Guidance Regarding General Counsel Priorities.” The memo is her second in as many months and reads like a punch list for reversing the Board’s Biden-era precedent. For employers, the headline is simple: nothing has changed yet, but a lot may be about to.
GC memos do not change the law, they are not Board decisions, and they carry no independent legal force. But they are highly reliable early indicators, and this one is particularly specific. Whether your organization runs non-union, unionized, or organizing-campaign operations, several items in GC Memo 26-04 belong on your radar now.
From Backlog Buster to Policy Bulldozer
The NLRB’s General Counsel is a presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed official who controls the agency’s prosecutorial function. The office decides which unfair labor practice charges to prosecute, what legal positions to take, and which existing Board precedents to ask the Board to overturn. The General Counsel operates independently of the five-member Board that decides cases.
Carey’s predecessor, Jennifer Abruzzo, was known for sweeping “mandatory submission” memos. Carey took a different approach, making the agency’s historic case backlog her first priority. The strategy appears to be paying off. Carey reports the agency has resolved 9,247 pending cases—a reduction of more than 50 percent.
The timing of this memo is likely no coincidence. It arrives...
Police have referred the bereaved family members of the late Kim Sae-ron, whom actor Kim Soo-hyun, 38, accused, to the Prosecution Service. Seoul Gangnam Police Station announced on the 26th that ...