Marathon Pundit: NLRB overreach, pinata edition

Friday, September 23, 2011

NLRB overreach, pinata edition

Boeing headquarters, Chicago

The NLRB board members probably feel like like pinatas. Good.

From the Wall Street Journal:

The folks at the National Labor Relations Board could be forgiven for feeling like pinatas this week.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday sued to block an NLRB rule requiring employers to post notice about unionization rights. Rep. Austin Scott (R., Ga.) on Wednesday introduced a bill, the Protecting American Jobs Act, to strip the agency of its judicial powers and send certain cases straight to federal court. That would "depoliticize" the agency, Mr. Scott said.

On Thursday, it was time for a fourth House hearing to scrutinize the board. Rep. John Kline (R., Minn.), chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, said the board’s aim was to "expand the power of big labor … whatever the costs to the American people."

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

As the Obama-anointed National Labor Relations Board pushes its unrelenting pro-union agenda, manufacturers and businesses aren't waiting for Congress to act before pushing back.

The National Association of Manufacturers, 11,000 members strong, is suing the NLRB in U.S. District Court over a union-toadying regulation that, effective Nov. 14, requires most businesses to post notices informing workers of their right to unionize.

NAM President Jay Timmons tells The Hill newspaper that the NLRB is acting outside its authority to aggressively "insert itself in the day-to-day decisions of businesses."

And with the National Federation of Independent Business, the manufacturers group has launched an ad campaign urging Congress to stem the NLRB's meddling in where businesses choose to operate. This, in response to the board's crusade against Boeing's decision to build a new jetliner factory in right-to-work South Carolina.

Politico:

"It's like a lightning rod," said Gary Chaison, an industrial relations professor at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. "The Boeing case is so dramatic. All the anti-union forces and all anti-Obama people are coalescing."

At the same time the president was selling his American Jobs Act in the Rose Garden last week, Mitt Romney was visiting Boeing's South Carolina factory. The former governor of Massachusetts drew loud cheers for suggesting that any stimulus package should include legislation telling the board to drop its complaint.

“It’s an egregious example of political payback where the president is able to pay back the unions for the hundreds of millions of dollars they have put into his campaigns at the expense of American workers,” Romney said.

Newt Gingrich toured the new plant and called for cutting the NLRB’s funding, while Jon Huntsman did his own swing through the manufacturing facility, advocating that the president step in before it scares business from South Carolina. Rick Perry has accused Obama of stacking the board with "anti-business cronies."

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who has been driving this debate in her early-voting state, made a surprise appearance at a Michele Bachmann town hall to ask her opinion. The candidate warned, "If the NLRB would also be continuing their current stance, they may not last very long."