Press Releases

Today, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved the Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act (H.R. 2587), legislation to prohibit the National Labor Relations Board from ordering any employer to relocate, shut down, or transfer a business under any circumstance.

“Congress cannot be a willing accomplice in policies that stifle investment and undermine job growth. The public did not elect 535 idle spectators; they sent men and women to Washington with a mandate to make jobs a national priority,” said Chairman John Kline (R-MN). “Republicans refuse to allow federal bureaucrats to reverse the business decisions of employers. The Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act takes a critical step to provide employers with the certainty they need to put Americans back to work, right here at home. I look forward to its consideration by the House of Representatives.”

“I want to thank Chairman Kline and the committee for moving swiftly on this important legislation,” said Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC), who introduced H.R. 2597 on Tuesday. “This commonsense approach will remove an impediment to job growth across the entire country, and with the support of both the Speaker and the Majority Leader, I look forward to it coming before the full House for a vote soon. We can no longer allow big government to stand in the way of our job creators.”

At his weekly press briefing this morning, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said, “Republicans continue to make job creation our top priority. This morning, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce is considering a bill that would prohibit the National Labor Relations Board from [dictating] where an employer can or cannot locate jobs here in our country.” The Speaker continued, “I appreciate the committee’s efforts to help get the government out of the way and to promote a better environment for private-sector job creation.”

House Republican Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) called H.R. 2587 “a critical, commonsense proposal to prohibit the NLRB from picking winners and losers on behalf of big labor.” House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said the legislation “is necessary to rein in the authority of the NLRB, and prevent them from dictating where a private company locates its business.”

Members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce applauded the legislation’s approval:

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC): It is truly a shame that legislation must be created to counter the activist agenda of the job killing NLRB. However, I refuse to stand on the sidelines and silently watch as job creators across America, specifically in my home state of South Carolina, are being subjected to the bullying of unelected bureaucrats. I am pleased the Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act has been approved by the committee, and look forward to its consideration on the House floor.

Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Chairman Phil Roe, M.D. (R-TN): We must limit the authority of any organization seeking to threaten job creation. This legislation would provide necessary oversight of the NLRB by restricting their authority to order any employer to relocate, shut down, or transfer employment under any circumstance. The NLRB’s nonsensical position against Boeing has shed light on flaws in the system, and I believe this legislation will work to amend the flaws and better the system.

Subcommittee on Workforce Protections Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI): Government should not hinder private businesses’ attempts to grow and create jobs. This bill ensures that an unelected government panel, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), cannot tell a business where it can or cannot create jobs. If we are going to get our economy back on the path of job creation, we must ensure the private sector is not discouraged by the federal government.

Rep. Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-IN): This is a straightforward bill; it prohibits the NLRB from ordering any employer to close, relocate, or transfer employment under any circumstances. And the critics who say that any of the dozen of alternative remedies, such as back pay or payment of travel and moving expenses for all employees who accept work at a new plant, will not be a sufficient penalty, have obviously never run a business before.  I am proud to cosponsor this bill and look forward to seeing it progress through Congress.

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC): The NLRB is designed to be an impartial arbiter, not an ideologically driven institution catering to the wishes of one specific constituency. Their recent actions, from the promulgation of rules designed to expedite union elections to the legally insufficient complaint against Boeing, indicate a trend towards political calculations at the expense of fundamental fairness. H.R. 2587, the Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act, begins the process of reining in the NLRB’s activist agenda. I am proud to cosponsor this legislation designed to give America’s job creators the freedom and certainty they so desperately need, and look forward to continuing the fight against excessive government interference.

Rep. Joe Heck, M.D. (R-NV): In the past, unions were about protecting workers. Today’s unions are more about union politics and protecting their clout than protecting workers. This change in focus is exemplified by a Boeing union newsletter that stated, ‘2,100 bargaining unit positions may be lost’ if Boeing located a new manufacturing plant in South Carolina – not jobs, not employees, ‘bargaining unit positions.’ Employers must have the ability to locate where they can find the best employees, not the best bargaining unit positions. HR 2587 does just that, and it’s why I support this legislation.

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA): What the NLRB is doing to Boeing amounts to federal interference that hurts businesses, destroys jobs, and discourages companies from investing in our economy. We can’t compete in the global market if government boards like the NLRB try to dictate what employers can and can’t do, creating a level of uncertainly that flies in the face of our nation’s free market principles. By approving H.R. 2587 in the committee today, we have taken an important step forward in the fight to encourage job creation and put our nation back on the path to prosperity.

The Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act is supported by numerous organizations representing the nation’s job creators, including:

• American Hotel and Lodging Association
• Associated Builders and Contractors
• Business Coalition for Fair Competition
• Coalition for a Democratic Workplace
• National Association of Manufacturers
• National Council of Chain Restaurants
• National Retail Federation
• Printing Industries of America
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce

To read more about the Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act, click here. To view markup materials, click here.

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