Marathon Pundit: NLRB overreach: Senate edition

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

NLRB overreach: Senate edition

It's time for the US Senate to make a move against the radicalized National Labor Relations Board. First, an article from Townhall written by Fred Wszolek of the Workforce Fairness Institute:

Last week, the U.S. House passed the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act, legislation which reins in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). With a 235-188 bipartisan vote, the message was sent to President Obama that his unelected bureaucrats are not doing the bidding of Big Labor bosses without Congress stepping in and acting.

Now that the House has spoken, it is time for the U.S. Senate to do the same. With all the talk on Capitol Hill about jobs and economic recovery, Senators have a chance to put their money where their mouth is by supporting legislation which will disallow job-killing mandates such as "quickie" or "ambush" elections and the formation of "micro-units" (collective bargaining units with as few as two or three people that will splinter the workforce and were only created for the purpose of allowing union bosses to gain a foothold in a business).

With so many targeted Senate races in 2012, a vote in the upper chamber on the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act would be consequential in that it would allow citizens to know whether their Senators seeking re-election have placed their interests above labor's. Also, with passage, the legislation would be sent to President Obama forcing him to make clear whether his economic intentions are genuine or nothing more than rhetoric. While I have little doubt both Obama and some of Big Labor’s supporters in the Senate would turn their backs on workers and small businesses as they seek big dollar donations from union bosses, it would be useful to get them on the record once and for all.

The arguments against common sense legislation, namely the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act, are hard to come by. Obama's labor board has proposed shortening the window for union elections from a median time of 38 days to as little as 10. The rule is anti-worker and anti-business. It would deprive the employer of a meaningful opportunity to express its views on unionization, and its employees the right to hear those views and make an informed choice. Due to the massive volume of comments the NLRB has received in opposition to this rule change they are seeking to jam through a variation of it, but the end result is largely the same, forcing workers into unions.

The lone Republican on the National Labor Relations Board, Brian Hayes, threatened to quit so the outlier agency would lack a quorum. He didn't resign, but that didn't stop a rabidly pro-union congressman from attacking him.

From a Workforce Fairness Institute press release:

WFI Calls Out George Miller As A Hypocrite

Washington, D.C. (December 6, 2011) – The Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) today released the following statement in response to attempts by Congressman George Miller to malign National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Member Brian Hayes without any apparent evidence, while completely ignoring Big Labor puppet Craig Becker's glaring and reported conflict of interest:

"We have always known – as just about everyone else – that George Miller was in the back pocket of labor bosses. This is the man who supported the Employee 'Forced' Choice Act for American workers even though it eliminated the secret ballot, while he actively sought to defend the right to a private vote for Mexican nationals," said Fred Wszolek, spokesperson for the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI). "Miller has benefitted from Big Labor's largesse and appears to once again be doing their bidding. In attempting to smear National Labor Relations Board Member Brian Hayes without what appears to be a credible shred of evidence, Miller has demonstrated his complete lack of respect for himself or anyone else, starting with his own constituents. Worse yet, Miller has remained silent while Board Member Craig Becker decided matters benefitting his previous employers at the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in spite of an obvious conflict of interest. Miller has never sought to ask and Becker has refused to disclose whether he has a retirement or pension with these same unions as he makes decisions that fatten their coffers and presumably aids his own financial interests. President Obama's labor board has been defined by its efforts to kill jobs and waste taxpayer dollars and Miller’s efforts serve as nothing more than a feeble attempt to distract from that reality."