Posts tagged Gwynne Wilcox
Lawmakers Should Not Let a Lame Duck Pack the NLRB
July 28, 2024 // For instance, on her watch, Chair McFerran has allowed workplace discrimination to be weaponized for pro-union activities. This decision has subjected workers to traumatizing harassment, while simultaneously barring employers from intervening. According to a report by the Institute for the American Worker, McFerran’s NLRB has used Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to excuse “racist rhetoric, sexist harassment, and vulgarity in the workplace, as long as it takes place in the context of ‘union activity.’”
Biden Pushes Early Renomination of Failed NLRB Chair in Effort to Deny Possible Trump Administration Control over Labor Board
June 12, 2024 // The NLRB is composed of five members, usually three of whom are from the president’s political party and two from the opposing party. The Board uses both adjudication and rulemaking to put forward its interpretations of the NLRA, but it needs a quorum of three members to act. Currently, there are four Board members (see Board composition here). Three of the members are Democrats, while one is a Republican. The other Republican seat has been vacant since December of 2022, because President Biden chose not to nominate anyone to that vacancy for a year and a half. While agency vacancies and delays on nominations are nothing new in Washington, this one is notable and shows an unusual partisanship and dishonesty.
Pro-Union Advocates Push to Fill NLRB Vacancy for Wrong Reason
August 22, 2023 // Union officials are seemingly concerned her absence will thwart the advancement of a pro-union agenda. As one labor leader lamented, it is “certainly in the interest of the unions … to have a functioning board with good, strong, pro-worker advocates. The NLRB is supposed to make it easier for workers to organize, not harder.” There are two problems with such complaints from union leaders. The first is that being pro-union is not the appropriate role for the NLRB, which is supposed to be neutral, not biased in favor of unions. Yet, it is a common misconception that even President Biden repeated by saying, “the policy of the federal government has been to encourage worker organizing and collective bargaining, not to merely allow or tolerate them.” Related National Labor Relations Board Says Profanity in the Workplace Is Just Fine As a recent report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute notes, “the claim that the NLRA [National Labor Relations Act] was meant to encourage unionization is contrary to the repeated claims of the late Sen. Robert Wagner, a New York Democrat and author of the law.” Instead, the NLRA attempted to strike a balance between providing the right to bargain collectively through a union while at the same time ensuring workers are free not to do so either.
Pro-Union Shift Expected With Labor Board Member’s Pending Exit
August 21, 2023 // Abruzzo has asked the board to resurrect the Joy Silk doctrine—which would allow unions to bypass an official NLRB election with a card-check vote instead—and overturn the 1940’s Babcock & Wilcox ruling to make captive audience meetings unlawful. In another pending case, the board also may decide the fate of the 1970 Ex-Cell-O precedent, which prohibits the NLRB from forcing companies or unions to accept provisions of a collective bargaining agreement. Overturning that decision would allow the board to levy financial remedies against companies to compensate workers for what they could’ve earned with good-faith contract negotiations. The NLRB’s August agenda also includes finalizing regulations to expand the factors that can trigger a joint-employer finding. The rule, proposed nearly a year ago, would eliminate the stricter joint employment standard established by the Trump-era board. Other pending cases could boost the potency of worker strikes, expand the scope of labor law protections, and make other changes that bolster worker and union power.
New Report Details Concerning Labor Movement Trends
March 4, 2022 // If these trends continue to play out, many workers may ask themselves if the NLRB is there to protect their rights, or to protect the union bosses who are already in power. One big way to protect workers would be for Congress to pass legislation like the Employee Rights Act (ERA). This bill provides several safeguards against union coercion and other tactics, as well as guarantees workers a secret ballot election when it comes to union organizing.
Biden endures up-and-down first year on labor issues
January 18, 2022 // The administration’s decision to weaken COVID-19 isolation guidelines and rescind the emergency temporary standard for health care worker protections puts Biden in rare disagreement with labor unions.