Free Republic

The separate complaints focus on the timing of the union vote that narrowly approved Boeing’s 777X contract extension.Four individual Machinists at Boeing have filed separate complaints with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking to overturn the 777X contract extension vote that passed by a slim margin last week. Anne Pomerantz, NLRB regional attorney, said the agency will investigate the charges, gather evidence and decide if any action is warranted. The process typically takes approximately 12 weeks, she said. The union members filed the unfair labor practices claims against the national headquarters of the International Association of Machinists (IAM), which...

The National Labor Relations Board has abandoned the administration’s attempts to force businesses to post pro-union notices in workplaces. Two federal appeals courts struck down an NLRB rule that would have forced employers to put up the signs. The NLRB had until Thursday, Jan. 2, to appeal the cases to the Supreme Court, but quietly allowed the deadline to pass. A NLRB spokesman said the agency was not prepared to comment on the matter. Critics of the posters celebrated the NLRB’s decision. The “unanimous voice of the judiciary has forced the Obama Labor Board to

Later this month the Supreme Court will hear a case that should resolve how much latitude presidents have to make recess appointments to federal offices that otherwise require Senate confirmation. The boundary of this power has never been decided by the high court. Yet the entire scheme of the U.S. Constitution—which is based on a separation of powers, enforced through checks and balances to safeguard individual liberty—is at stake. Noel Canning v. NLRB involves several recess appointments President Obama made to the National Labor Relations Board on Jan. 4, 2012. The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., correctly held that...

After bringing America’s automotive industry to the brink of complete collapse, union bosses have set their sights on foreign auto companies with manufacturing plants in the United States, specifically targeting Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The United Auto Workers (UAW) has launched a concerted effort to unionize the Chattanooga plant’s workers, but have decided to strategically use non-traditional methods to obtain unionization. Last month, UAW representative Gary Casteel poignantly told The Tennessean, “We are not seeking a vote necessarily … We know if we go for a traditional election where the outside organizations could campaign against us, we’d probably...

Union bosses have an air of entitlement among themselves nowadays. Over the past two election cycles, organized labor has collectively spent hundreds of millions dollars electing President Obama and like-minded Congressmen and Senators. For their efforts, they have come to expect a sizable return on investment. And for the most part, their every wish, no matter how absurd, has been granted by the president himself. Since Big Labor helped President Obama pass his signature healthcare legislation, union bosses have been pushing to receive an exemption from the very same law. The hypocrisy is striking, which is perhaps why the...

Big Labor applauded the Senate for confirming Richard Griffin on Tuesday as general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. The Senate voted 62-37 to end a filibuster against Griffin's nomination and 55-44 to confirm him. The NLRB oversees labor-management conflicts in the private sector. "With today's confirmation of Richard Griffin to serve as General Counsel, the NLRB is now running on all cylinders to meet its duty to fairly and impartially oversee the workplace rights of millions of Americans," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said. Griffin, a former top lawyer with the International Union of Operating Engineers, was a controversial...

The federal government shutdown has begun to paralyze the legal machinery that governs many of the relationships between U.S. employers and workers. The National Labor Relations Board, which reviews labor disputes and oversees union elections, is down to just 11 employees - with the other 1,600 sent home. Phones are going unanswered and some websites are frozen because of the shutdown, now in its third day. The NLRB's home page declares it is "currently closed due to a lapse in appropriated funds" and asks visitors to "click here to view our Shutdown Plan." At the 16,000-employee U.S. Department of Labor,...

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — Should the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) compel employers to provide union organizers with the phone numbers and email addresses of employees they want to solicit for votes for a union?...

NEW YORK (MainStreet)—Will today's 20- and 30-somethings continue to be required to join a union or pay union dues to a union to represent them even if they do not want to join? Well, not if some people get their way. There is a movement called Right-to-Work (RTW) that wants to change this. Indeed, some...

<p>WASHINGTON — With union membership on the decline, labor leaders are getting more creative - and some say more desperate - to boost sagging numbers and rebuild their waning clout.</p> <p>Unions are helping non-union fast food workers around the country hold strikes to protest low wages and poor working conditions. They are trying to organize home day care workers, university graduate students and even newly legalized marijuana dealers. Members of a "shadow union" at Wal-Mart hold regular protests at the giant retailer, which long has been resistant to organizing.</p>

After a contentious fight over some of President Obama’s nominees, the Senate confirmed five members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).On Tuesday, the Senate voted to clear all five nominees — Harry Johnson III, Philip Miscimarra, Nancy Schiffer, Kent Hirozawa and Mark Pearce.Republicans agreed to hold up-or-down votes on the NLRB nominees as part of a deal to avoid Senate rule changes limiting the minority's right to filibuster executive branch nominations. Two of the NLRB nominees confirmed were GOP picks — Johnson and Miscimarra — and Schiffer, Hirozawa and Pearce were Obama's nominees. As part of the deal, Obama...

After a contentious fight over some of President Obama’s nominees, the Senate confirmed five members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). On Tuesday, the Senate voted to clear all five nominees — Harry Johnson III, Philip Miscimarra, Nancy Schiffer, Kent Hirozawa and Mark Pearce. Republicans agreed to hold up-or-down votes on the NLRB nominees as part of a deal to avoid Senate rule changes limiting the minority's right to filibuster executive branch nominations. Two of the NLRB nominees confirmed were GOP picks — Johnson and Miscimarra — and Schiffer, Hirozawa and Pearce were Obama's nominees. As part of the...

The Senate voted 64-34 Tuesday to end debate on the nomination of Kent Hirozawa to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). That vote sets up eight hours of debate time, which could be waived to allow a quick vote on the nomination. After Hirozawa, the nominations of Nancy Schiffer and Mark Pearce to join the NLRB will follow. More than 10 Republicans voted with Democrats to advance Hirozawa's nomination. Republicans agreed to hold up-or-down votes on President Obama’s NLRB nominations as part of a deal to avoid Senate rule changes limiting the minority's right to filibuster executive branch...

President Barack Obama gave the Senate just one day to vet his new nominees to the National Labor Relations Board. The White House presented the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) with vetting documents for former AFL-CIO lawyer Nancy Schiffer and NLRB Democratic lawyer Kent Hirozawa on the eve of their confirmation hearing, according to Senate sources. Federal law mandates that NLRB nominees undergo tax, criminal, and conflict of interest background checks performed by the IRS, FBI, and Office of Government Ethics, respectively. The HELP committee rules require the White House to turn over vetting documents at...

The Tuesday Senate deal cut by Republicans and Democrats on Tuesday to avoid the “nuclear option” just keeps getting better and better…for union bosses. You may recall that on Tuesday, the only “victory” that Republicans could lay claim to (in exchange for their giving Harry Reid nearly everything Democrats wanted) was that two of Barack Obama’s constitutionally-challenged “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board would be let go. Well, as it turns out, while Operating Engineers’ chief counsel Richard Griffin is being tossed from his seat on the NLRB as a member, he is now being offered the position...

RICHMOND, Va. – A third federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that President Obama´s recess appointments of three National Labor Relations Board members was unconstitutional. A divided three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals joined federal appeals courts in the District of Columbia and Philadelphia in ruling that the Senate wasn´t really in recess when Obama filled the vacancies during an extended holiday break in January 2012. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the D.C. case. However, the legal dispute may have been resolved politically. Obama on Tuesday nominated two new NLRB appointees to replace those

Sen. John McCain spent the weekend negotiating with Majority Leader Harry Reid on a deal to avert Reid's threatened use of the "nuclear option" to change Senate rules to eliminate filibusters on Presidential nominations. Through his efforts, McCain was able to secure a complete GOP capitulation on 7 pending nominations. Reid secured all the benefits of exercising the "nuclear option" without the political cost of actually using it. Under the McCain deal, the GOP will provide enough votes to secure the 60 votes needed for cloture and proceed to final consideration of the 7 nominees. In exchange, Reid agreed to...

Bowing to an ultimatum, Senate Republicans agreed Tuesday to drop objections to key Obama administration nominees, delivering a victory to Senate Democrats who said they will shelve — for now — their own plans to change the rules and curtail filibusters. The last-minute deal, announced just before the Senate was slated to hold a critical test vote, still leaves Democrats able to employ the so-called “nuclear option” and change the filibuster rules later this year if they think Republicans are obstructing appointments unfairly. Republicans said they got President Obama to withdraw two controversial nominees to the National Labor Relations Board,...

In 2005, then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist threatened to end the filibuster for judicial appointments by forcing a mid-session rule change on a majority vote, an act that would have ended two centuries of precedent. Before he could act, though, the Gang of 14 arose, led by Republican John McCain, to preserve the senatorial tradition, brokering a deal that left conservatives fuming by depriving Frist of his partisan majority. Eight years later, with Harry Reid threatening to take the same action on executive-branch appointments, where is that Old Gang of Ours? According to NBC, at least McCain might be riding...

In the courts of law and public opinion, congressional Republicans increasingly accuse President Barack Obama of exceeding his constitutional authority for the benefit of special interests, most recently by delaying a requirement for businesses to provide health care for their workers. In one instance, Senate Republicans formally backed a lawsuit challenging the president’s appointment of three members of the National Labor Relations Board without confirmation. The Supreme Court has agreed to review a ruling in the case, which found that Obama overstepped his bounds. Most recently, the White House’s decision to postpone a key part of the president's health care...