Free Republic

One of the first things that Joe Biden did upon taking office was to begin firing people at the National Labor Relations Board, an unprecedented move designed to tilt the board in favor of union advocates that support Democratic campaigns. That investment is already paying off for liberals who oppose right-to-work laws. At a food processing plant in Delaware, workers voted overwhelmingly to reject the leadership of the local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW). When the vote was challenged by the union, a regional NLRB director ruled in favor of the workers’ right to reject...

Stacked with Obama-appointed bureaucrats back in December 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decided that it was in the best interests of labor bosses to severely diminish the window of time for workplace elections to just a few weeks. This, after it was well established that the vast majority of union elections in the private sector take place within 38 days with labor winning significantly more than half. Known as the “ambush” or “quickie” election rule, it guaranteed that workers would only hear the union story during workplace elections. As soon as the NRLB announced its proposed rulemaking, it...

Three of President Obama’s recess appointments appeared in jeopardy Monday of being deemed unconstitutional, as the U.S. Supreme Court took up a case that could help define the limits of executive power. Nearly every justice on the high court questioned the basis of Obama’s 2012 appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, signaling a ruling that could temper presidential authority and bolster the Senate’s hand. At issue is whether Obama overstepped by making the appointments during a limited “pro-forma” session of the Senate and, further, when exactly presidents can install judges and fill top federal vacancies without the upper chamber’s...

A third federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that President Obama violated the Constitution last year when he made recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, adding more weight to the case as it goes before the Supreme Court in the justices’ next session. The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, said that the president can only make recess appointments after Congress has adjourned “sine die,” which in modern times has meant when it breaks at the end of each year.

Mark Gaston Pearce, chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, issued the following statement in reaction to today’s DC Appeals Court decision that President Obama use of recess appointments to install three people on the NLRB last year was unconstitutional. The action renders the board without a quorum to act and potentially invalidates a year’s worth of actions and rulings by it. Pearce indicated that the NLRB will attempt to continue on regardless:

Battlefields sometimes form in unexpected places. South Florida’s luxuriance camouflages the battle lines, but make no mistake -- we’re in combat over the role of government. If you’re in the growing crowd that wants to protect our economic freedom and liberties, you're about to find out what you’re fighting against, why it matters and who’s on the other side. You’re in a showdown, a decisive confrontation against government and unions, and this clash is all about making Florida a vibrant and attractive place in which to live, work, and move to. The power of public unions is rendering state and...

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was within its legal powers when it issued a rule requiring employers to post notices about union rights, a judge ruled Friday. The rule would require employers to display notices about collective bargaining rights, and has been challenged in court by several trade associations. In a memorandum opinion filed Friday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said the NLRB did not exceed its statutory authority in issuing the rule. She did rule, however, that the NLRB cannot “make a blanket advance determination that a failure to post [the notice] will always constitute an unfair...

The Senate is famed for its long-winded debates, but on Friday it took Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown just seconds to stop Republicans in their tracks. With the Senate entering the first day of its Memorial Day recess, the Ohio senator was briefly in the chair, before a near-empty chamber, to gavel in and gavel out what is called a pro forma session. Without that procedural move, the Senate would technically be adjourned and President Bush could install administration officials or judges as "recess appointments" — without Senate confirmation. "That's the fastest I've ever done it," said Brown, who like other...

USA Today came out with a one year forecasted jobs growth graph that has some interesting results. According to the survey, the only states that are forecasted to grow jobs by 2% or more are Right-to-Work states – Wyoming, Utah and Oklahoma (Note: USA Today does not identify states in this way). The majority of states slated to see negative job growth are 7 to 1 Forced Union states, Georgia being the only exception as the sole Right-to-Work state.

The National Labor Relations Board Regional Director has rejected a complaint in the American Crystal Sugar union lockout. Read NLRB Letter Here. The union representing 1,300 American Crystal Sugar Co. employees had asked the NLRB to rule on their accusations that the American Crystal was not negotiating in good faith. James Fox, Acting Regional Director for the NLRB, in a letter to lawyers for the the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, said the union had "failed to establish that the Employer violated the National Labor Relations Act. Fox also noted that the proposed contract changes were...

Today’s Republican-led congressional field hearing in North Charleston could feature some high-powered spectators from the other side of the aisle. U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and at least two other well-known Democratic lawmakers were spotted this morning arriving at Charleston International Airport around 10 a.m. from Washington, D.C. Lafe Solomon, the chief attorney for the NLRB who has been summoned to testify in today’s proceedings, also was seen getting off the same plane by a reporter from The Post and Courier who was boarding a flight. Solomon has filed lawsuit against Boeing Co. over union discrimination, which is...

Senator Jim DeMint, R-S.C., sat down for an interview with Coffee and Markets, a podcast hosted by Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech. When asked about the National Labor Relations Board's attempt to keep Boeing from building a factory in his state, DeMint had some exceptionally harsh words for the NLRB: DeMint: I mean, they’ll lose the first couple of appeals because they go back to the board that the President has stocked with union thugs basically, and – Cianfrocca: “Union thugs”, may we quote you? That’s a great word. continue reading at: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/sen-jim-demint-president-has-stocked-nlrb-union-thugs_571584.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Labor Relations Board says it will move ahead with lawsuits seeking to invalidate state constitutional amendments in Arizona and South Dakota that require workers to hold secret ballot elections before a company can be unionized. The move comes after months of negotiations that failed to reach a settlement with attorneys general for the two states, according to an April 22 letter from the agency's acting general counsel, Lafe Solomon. It's the latest in a series of high-profile steps the agency has taken to defend union rights since gaining a Democratic majority last year for the...

This past Thursday, we (along with the Shopfloor blog), shed some light on a startlingly pro-union Google ad being placed by the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board that stated: “Find Info on How to Start a Union Get the Process & More on Our Site!“ A day later, on Friday, the National Labor Relations Board posted what appears to be its first-ever “Fact Check” that stated the following: Fact Check This feature encourages accuracy in the media by correcting common misperceptions and errors of fact when they are brought to our attention. Google Ads It has been reported that the...

Over the weekend, we noted the recess appointment of Craig Becker, the former Service Employees International Union lawyer to the National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB oversees labor and business relations, so this represents a pretty big payback for Big Labor even if Becker cannot serve past the end of the current Congress (January 2011). How big? Over at the Washington Examiner, Mark Hemingway elaborates on Mr. Becker’s take on labor/management relations:

BULLETIN: Obama announces more than a dozen recess appointments, including NRLB nominee Craig Becker. 3 minutes ago via Tweetie Appointments include 5 members of EEOC, senior DHS management offcial, CPB...

Unions: Republican senators have warned the president not to appoint Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board while Congress is in recess. But he will — and American workers and consumers will be worse off for it. There's good reason to oppose Becker sitting on the NLRB, the five-member federal agency that administers the National Labor Relations Act governing relations between unions and private-sector employers. It's not so much because Becker is a lawyer for the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union and would be the first NLRB member to come straight from the legal staff of organized...

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) cast his first major vote today, helping Republicans maintain a filibuster against President Obama's nominee to the National Labor Relations Board. Brown opposed ending debate on the nomination of Craig Becker, a former lawyer for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) who has received stiff opposition from business groups and Republicans. The final vote was 52-33, falling short of the 60 needed to end debate and move to a final vote. President Obama has blasted Republicans for filibustering nominees like Becker. The vote suggests Brown will stick with his caucus on controversial party-line votes. Many suspect...

Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts is set to be sworn in today to take the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s seat. Brown requested the event be moved forward a week in a letter to state officials, saying there were Senate votes he wanted to participate in. Key among them was the nomination of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. Becker has served as a top attorney with the Service Employees International Union. Its chief, Andy Stern, is a close ally of the White House. The nomination was widely seen as payback for Big Labor’s support of President Obama in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama pledged on Friday to repeal labor laws enacted under his Republican predecessor George W. Bush that unions have long contended favored employers over workers. Obama, who won significant backing from trade unions in his Democratic presidential campaign, said there could not be a strong middle class, the focus of his economic recovery plan, without a strong labor movement. "I believe we have to reverse many of the policies toward organized labor that we have seen over the past eight years, policies with which I have sharply disagreed," Obama told a gathering at the White...