The future of the union-friendly Employee Free Choice Act may be uncertain. But it’s pretty clear that organized labor has some new friends in high places following President Obama’s two recent appointments to the National Labor Relations Board.
The president announced he was appointing attorneys Craig Becker and Mark Pearce to the five-member board. They were recess appointments — made when Congress wasn’t in session — so neither had to go through the Senate confirmation process.
Pearce is a practicing union lawyer. Becker has represented the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO.
Becker’s appointment was bitterly opposed by the business community — 20 national trade associations wrote to President Obama to oppose his appointment. In the past, he has called for far-reaching pro-union labor reforms — which, he maintains, could be instituted by the NLRB without congressional approval.
Becker and Pearce join NLRB chair Wilma Liebman to give the NLRB a three-member Democratic majority.
What’s it all mean? The appointments certainly don’t bode well for employers involved in labor disputes that may come before the NLRB for rulings. Those rulings normally carry a lot of weight when the disputes make their way into federal appeals court.
For a more complete look at the Becker and Pearce appointments, you can read a summary from the national law firm Ogletree Deakins here.
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