What to do when union membership declines?

The answer to this question is simple if you are the Obama administration…you rig the rules.  And, that is exactly what the National Labor Relations Board intends to do on Wednesday.

In June of this year, the NLRB proposed a new rule that would shorten the time between when a union seeks to hold an election to unionize a workplace, and the date the election must occur.  Currently, that time frame is 5 to 6 weeks, but, in the minds of the unions, that gives the employer way too much time to educate the workforce about some of the “issues” associated with becoming unionized.  The new proposal will allow only 10 to 14 days for the employer to educate his employees.  Of course, the union still has months to plan the takeover.

Currently, the NLRB has only 3 members, with two vacancies.  However, the term of one of the two democrat members will expire at the end of the year.  That member, Craig Becker, was given an interim appointment by President Obama because even democrats in the Senate refused to confirm him.  Consequently, for labor, time is of the essence.

But, what has happened to the sole Republican on the board is reprehensible.   NLRB Chairman Mark Pearce insists that the NLRB vote be held immediately.

Mr. Pearce’s ram-job has drawn the ire of the NLRB’s lone Republican commissioner, Brian Hayes. In a letter to House Education and Workforce Chairman John Kline, Mr. Hayes notes that while nearly 66,000 comments had been received on the original version of the proposed rule, he has been cut out of the loop on any responses to the comments by his fellow commissioners or any modifications made to the final rule that differ from the original draft.

The NLRB’s long-standing tradition has been to change a rule only with the vote of three members, but, Mr. Pearce finds such tradition to be pesky.  Mr. Hayes tells us that,

 …he was advised that ‘in the event I didn’t agree with [the final rule], it would, nonetheless, be approved and published based on their two member vote.’ Since he wouldn’t be granted the traditional 90 days to review the rule and write a dissent, he writes that he was ‘advised that I would be limited to doing so after publication of the rule.’

Mr. Hayes has said he might boycott Wednesday’s hearing, and, if he does, the anticipated ruling could well violate the holding of a recent Supreme Court decision in New Process Steel v. NLRB.

But, what the heck, what is more important, a decision of the United States Supreme Court, or increasing union membership?

 

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SoundOffSister

The Sound Off Sister was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and special trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division; a partner in the Florida law firm of Shutts & Bowen, and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law. The Sound Off Sister offers frequent commentary concerning legislation making its way through Congress, including the health reform legislation passed in early 2010.

11 Comments

  1. essneff on November 26, 2011 at 12:45 am

    Is?this the same NLRB that is holding up a few thousand Boeing? jobs in South Carolina,?while?Obama wants more “stimulus” printed dollars for more public sector jobs???



  2. JBS on November 26, 2011 at 9:49 am

    This is the same NLRB that blocked Boeing from going to South Carolina because that state is a “right to work” state. The unions pitched a fit and the Regime’s tame NLRB put the stop to Boeing’s plans, only after they (Boeing) had already spent millions for the move.
    There is a Canadian pipeline that will undoubtedly be constructed and maintained by UNION workers. I wonder how much money will funnel back to the DNC as a result of that little plum?



  3. Lynn on November 26, 2011 at 11:57 am

    Ok, WHO in the MSM is reporting this? Is even Fox reporting this? We did not learn our lesson when we had to bail out GM for the insane demands of the Union that workers be paid for doing absolutely nothing except staying in a room all day.
    http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/archive/06may/auto2_jobsbank.htm
    We have got to stop the thuggery of the Unions who demand a change in the rules without demonstrating it would help benefit the unemployment debacle in this country.
    ?



  4. Lynn on November 26, 2011 at 12:05 pm

    And furthermore, we did not let GM go bankrupt to gain solvency, because I suspect that would have allowed GM to dissolve the Union.
    http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/auto-union-drove-gm-trouble
    How many other important manufacturing, innovative and truly necessary corporations, like Boeing will we lose in this country? WE should not allow this. Mr. Hayes should boycott this vote and we all need to support him. ? Do you hear me MSM? It is YOUR? job to report this, it should not all be left up to the Blogs. Thank you SOS.



  5. Marilyn on November 28, 2011 at 6:48 am

    Why would the NLRB give a hoot about the SC, the Law, or common sense.? This is about the fundamental transformation of America to a Nationalist Socialist Party.



  6. Dimsdale on November 29, 2011 at 6:19 pm

    ?bama must have really taken that book Chavez gave him to heart!



  7. Dimsdale on November 30, 2011 at 10:11 am

    Why is it that not one of our resident ?bama boosters has anything to say about this??? Or similar acts of malfeasance and corruption?



    • Lynn on November 30, 2011 at 10:52 am

      Was thinking the same thing. Can’t do their duo attack mode



    • Dimsdale on December 5, 2011 at 3:45 pm

      It is hard to defend the indefensible (but they try!)….



  8. WagTheDog on December 6, 2011 at 9:46 am

    Unions, like Obamacare, work best when there is no alternative.? So, unions, like Obamacare, want to force everyone to be under their repective umbrellas.



  9. Don Lombardo on December 6, 2011 at 11:53 am

    Game the system – like Putin in Russia.



square-union-thug-cartoon

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