NLRB overreach: Overregulation edition

OccupyChicago, 10/22

The Obama administration continues to live in denial about overregulation.

First course:

The Treasury Department is making a full-fledged effort to knock back Republican claims that overregulation is slowing down economic growth.

"[T]wo commonly repeated misconceptions are that uncertainty created by proposed regulations is holding back business investment and hiring and that the overall burden of existing regulations is so high that firms have reduced their hiring," Jan Eberly, the Treasury's assistant secretary for economic policy, penned in a blog post Monday, as first reported by POLITICO's Morning Money.

Second course, from Gallup:

One in three small-business owners are worried about going out of business

Small-business owners in the United States are most likely to say complying with government regulations (22%) is the most important problem facing them today, followed by consumer confidence in the economy (15%) and lack of consumer demand (12%).

Meanwhile, the NLRB is dragging its feet regarding a worker's complaint against the International Association for Machinists. From the Washington Examiner:

Earlier this year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overturned an important precedent that had protected the right of individual employees to seek union decertification elections in their workplaces. Under the NLRB's Dana Corporation decision, employees could petition for a secret ballot election within 45 days if a union won recognition using the card check system. That's the controversial procedure under which employees are asked to sign cards supporting unionization. The problem with card check is pressure: It's hard to say no when a burly unionist wants your signature. The Dana precedent gave workers a second chance that was both secret and safe.

In the Lamons Gasket Company case, decided on Aug. 26, the NLRB said it would no longer recognize the Dana requirement because it represented "a major change in Board law" that was "unwarranted." The decision was rushed through because the term of board chairman Wilma Liebman, who was appointed by President Obama, was about to expire. It should also be noted that the board acted despite the fact that board member Craig Becker, another Obama appointee, participated in the deliberations and vote despite having been an advocate for the labor side in the Dana decision.

Why the Dana precedent represented an important protection of individual worker rights was ably described last week in an Examiner oped authored by Barbara Ivey. She explained that "after working at Kaiser Permanente for 21 years, I was abruptly informed that Service Employees International Union organizers were launching a 'card check' drive at my workplace. Following a 13-day campaign, company officials announced that SEIU organizers had collected enough union cards to become the sole bargaining agent at my office."

Ivey and a number of her colleagues went through the Dana process of collecting signatures to hold a secret ballot election, which the NLRB scheduled for Oct. 4. But once the Lamons Gasket decision was announced in August, the Oct. 4 election was cancelled, without explanation. "Choosing whether to unionize is a serious decision, and card check unionization drives are often fraught with misinformation, harassment and even intimidation. Before the NLRB's Lamons Gasket decision, workers at least had an opportunity to demand a secret ballot vote following a card check campaign. Now we don't even have access to that modest restriction on aggressive union organizing," Ivey wrote in the Examiner.

A Boeing worker filed a counter claim to the IAM complaint, stating "the IAM unions are attempting to sabotage the jobs and work of the employees in North Charleston, SC, for the sole or primary reason that these employees rejected IAM representation and chose to work for Boeing without the interference of a labor organization."

Congress still has its eyes on the ovrreaching NLRB. From The Hill:

House Republicans are again moving forward with legislation to limit the power of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

On Wednesday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee is scheduled to mark up legislation sponsored by its chairman, Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.). The bill, known as the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act, would negate several of the labor board's actions this year, including a proposed regulation to speed up union elections.

The NLRB has come under heavy scrutiny this year from the GOP-controlled House and several business groups for what they argue is favoritism to unions.

"Congress cannot allow an activist NLRB to trample on the rights of workers and employers. The Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act is desperately needed to rein in the Obama board and reaffirm workforce protections that have been in place for decades," Kline said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Big Labor is working to overturn Governor John Kasich's financially-sound collective bargaining reform bill with a November ballot initiative. According to polls, the union cause is leading, although the situation looked equally gloomy this summer when it appeared Big Labor would succeed in turning the Wisconsin state Senate over to the Democrats. Publius Forum has more.

Technorati tags: unions organized labor aviation nlrb south carolina politics Democrats gop Republican unions news jobs economy law legal business Boeing minnesota politics minnesota john kline card check efca craig becker ohio ohio politics john kasich