Marathon Pundit: NLRB's bad run of luck

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

NLRB's bad run of luck

As the Workforce Fairness Institute's Fred Wszolek writes in RealClearPolicy, there has been a well-deserved bad run of luck for President Obama's radicalized NLRB.

Recent weeks have not been kind to President Obama's National Labor Relations Board. In the days since the historic ruling against the Board by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which found the "recess" appointments made by Obama to be unconstitutional, additional courts have rendered decisions that are unfavorable to the government agency, while America's employers have undertaken efforts to stop or undo the NLRB’s rulings.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently reversed the Board’s finding that an election conducted by employees of Arkema, Inc. decertifying the United Steelworkers of America's collective bargaining unit was somehow tainted. In a 22-page decision, the court found that the NLRB's unfair labor practice findings were unwarranted.

In addition, according to a recent news report in The Wall Street Journal, "[d]ozens of companies are seeking to void or block rulings by the National Labor Relations Board in the wake of a court decision that found President Barack Obama’s board appointments unconstitutional." Corporations such as Starbucks Corp. and Time Warner Inc., among others have decided to cite the ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court in challenges: “Since the January ruling by the Washington, D.C., appeals court, at least 87 companies and three unions have cited the decision in cases at varying stages within the agency, including cases the board has yet to decide. Many companies are telling the agency that actions against them should be voided or blocked since the board or its appointed regional officers made decisions while the NLRB lacked authority. Dozens more companies are citing the recess appointments in appeals they've filed against the agency in federal appellate courts.”

It appears even union lawyers are questioning the legitimacy of the president's unconstitutional recess appointees.