Obama Nominates Two Union-Side Lawyers to National Labor Relations Board
Washington, D.C. On Friday, April 24, 2009, President Obama nominated two union-side lawyers to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which is the administrative agency that interprets and implements the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The two new members, Craig Becker and Mark Pearce, both have extensive experience as union-side attorneys.
The nomination of Becker and Pearce follows Obama' appointment of union-side lawyer, former NLRB member and Philadelphia native Wilma Liebman to the position of Chairwoman of the Board on January 20, 2009. If Becker and Pearce are confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the five member Board would have a three vote majority of union-side lawyers.
Craig Becker currently works as Associate General Counsel to SEIU and for the AFL-CIO. Becker has an extensive academic background, having taught labor law at the University of Chicago, Georgetown and the University of California Los Angeles.
Mark Pearce currently practices union-side labor and employment law for Creighton, Pearce, Johnsen and Giroux, a New York based law firm. Pearce has extensive experience practicing labor law for government agencies and has taught labor law courses as well.
The nomination of union-side attorneys Becker and Pearce to the Board will be well received by organized labor. With three union-side attorneys on the Board, labor will expect much more union-friendly decisions than occurred under the previous administration. While it is too early to make specific predictions, it is reasonable to expect a Board with a majority of union-side attorneys to be more willing to guarantee the rights of different types of employees to form unions and to be more willing to find unfair labor practices committed by management in representation and contract campaigns.
Politically, these nominations suggest the Obama administration remains committed to labor. Currently labor' legislative agenda is struggling to gain traction. Obama has backed off of campaign promises to renegotiate NAFTA. The Employee Free Choice Act faces an uncertain future in the Senate, despite Senator Arlen Specter' (D-PA) recent party-switch. Thus, nomination of union friendly members to the NLRB demonstrates Obama' continuing commitment to organized labor and his strategic judgment that labor remains an important political ally.
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This is great news
What does this mean explicitly for worker organizing.
What is your analysis of the situation with the Employee Free Choice Act and Arlen Specter's recent announcement that he is switching to the Democratic party?
Implications for organizing and the EFCA
For organizing, the Board appears to shaping up to be much more union-friendly, and this means that it should be easier to organize unions under this administration.
Regarding the Employee Free Choice Act, Senator Specter made it clear in his announcement yesterday that his views on the bill have not changed. However, he may choose to vote with the Democrats on the procedural measures required to bring the bill to a full vote in the Senate, allow the bill to come to a full vote, and then personally vote against the bill even though the bill would pass given the support of the other Democratic senators. President Obama has said he'll sign the bill if it gets to his desk. On the other hand, Specter could continue to stand entirely with the Republicans on this issue and not allow the bill to even come up for a full vote in the Senate. It remains to be seen which path he'll take, and his decision in this regard may be determined by popular pressure.