Posts tagged William Cohen
Frozen feud: How Trump and the Supreme Court helped put historic Whole Foods union bid on ice
October 7, 2025 // When the NLRB will regain members depends on how quickly the Republican-led U.S. Senate moves to confirm two nominees picked by Trump in July, Boeing's chief labor counsel and an NLRB career staffer. A Senate committee is set to hold hearings on Trump's nominees on Wednesday. An NLRB spokesman did not respond to a request for comment about the delays. William Cowen, the board's acting general counsel, in an August press release addressing efforts in several states to pass new labor protections said the agency's work has "largely been unaffected" by the lack of quorum.
GOP lawmakers demand info on Biden-era spending used to declare student-athletes as employees
March 3, 2025 // While the change in how college athletes are treated has been welcomed by many, others have been concerned about the move's potential implications. Earlier this month, the Trump administration rescinded the Biden administration NLRB's September 2021 memo insisting college athletes be recognized as employees under federal labor laws. The Trump administration this month also revoked guidance issued by President Joe Biden on his way out of the White House that required schools to distribute direct NIL payments equally to female and male athletes. Aaron Withe, an expert in government unionization and a former college athlete, said he fears continued momentum toward viewing college athletes as strictly employees will destroy college sports. "Are unions going to step in between a coach and their athletes for yelling at the players, or because practice went long or because they're making them run an exceptional amount of lines?" Withe wondered. "If you're represented by a union, they're now your bargaining agent. You have no ability to go represent yourself in anything with the university if it is deemed they are your employer. You've got no ability to go negotiate with them anymore."
Walberg, Allen to NLRB: How Much Taxpayer Money Did Biden-Harris Spend Trying to Unionize Student Athletes
March 2, 2025 // “In September 2021, General Counsel Abruzzo issued a memorandum to NLRB field offices taking a ‘prosecutorial position’ that certain student-athletes were employees under the NLRA. The memo further stated she would pursue an independent violation of NLRA Section 8(a)(1) in ‘appropriate’ cases where an employer misclassified players as student-athletes rather than as employees.” The letter continues: “General Counsel Abruzzo’s attempts to impose the Biden-Harris administration’s misguided priorities on the student-athlete population would have caused significant consequences. Student-athletes would have lost the ability to negotiate their own deals with universities, and classifying these student-athletes as employees could have hindered their ability to transfer between schools.