NLRB's micro-unions: An assault on job creation

The assault on economic growth by the Obama administration is multi-pronged. Do you want evidence? A third-straight weak monthly jobs report is one piece, and Obama is a net-jobs loser since taking office.

His policies have mired us in a Jimmy Carter-esque malaise. One of those policies is his kowtowing to Big Labor. Fred Wszolek of the Workforce Fairness Institute writes about the NLRB's pursuit of micro-unions--which will create chaos in the workplace-- but few jobs.

Unfortunately though, the White House has decided against standing with workers and small businesses and instead, has sided with labor bosses desperately seeking "payback." After having invested half a billion dollars in President Obama's election in 2008, union bosses have demanded gifts in return for their political contributions. And the problem has only grown worse with the November election upon us and labor bosses slated to contribute nearly 500 million dollars more, for a grand total of one billion.

The truth is Big Labor is a special interest with unprecedented influence in this administration. Union bosses have publicly and arrogantly bragged about their access to this president and his advisors. And where does that leave employees and employers? They are saddled with job-killing policies promulgated by unelected government bureaucrats in federal agencies that result in increased costs and burdens.

A case study is exhibited in the Specialty Healthcare or micro-union decision reached by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Obama's labor board has endorsed a radical policy which upends nearly half a century of labor law and sanctions the formation of small or mini collective bargaining units, which can be made up of as few as two or three people.

The decision was the brainchild of former board member Craig Becker, who was previously counsel to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), having worked on Obama's transition as well. Due to his out-of-the-mainstream views, Becker was opposed by both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate, yet garnered a recess appointment to the NLRB. After enacting this micro-union policy, Becker left the board and was rewarded with the newly-created post of co-general counsel at the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).

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