E&W Blog

Today, the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing to examine the role of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) in protecting American workers.


In his opening statement, Subcommittee Chairman Rick Allen (R-GA) highlighted how the previous administration utilized the NLRB to expand its own authority.

“The Biden-Harris Board spent four years engaging in government overreach to expand unions and their control over American workers. The Biden-Harris Board defined graduate students and student-athletes as employees, simply so these groups can unionize,” he said. “The NLRB also adopted an elastic standard to determine whether a worker is an employee covered by the Act or an independent contractor—despite data showing that this will have a disastrous impact on the economy. Similarly, the Board published a final rule establishing a broader standard to determine the existence of a joint-employer relationship, threatening the franchise model and other business relationships.”

Witnesses mentioned how the Biden-Harris Board was less interested in debate and democracy than it was in seeing that unions were entrenched in every workplace.
“The Biden Board held that employers could not require employees to attend mandatory meetings when unionization issues are part of the meeting agenda. This prohibition on so-called ‘captive audience’ meetings overturned 76 years of precedent. This decision is a clear violation of the Section 8(c) free speech provision of the NLRA. It is also an unlawful content-based violation of the First Amendment,” said Mr. Roger King, Senior Labor and Employment Counsel at the HR Policy Association. “Finally, the breadth of the decision is such that it restricts or interferes with employers’ ability to discuss fundamental workplace issues with their employees in general, regardless of whether the meeting agenda or ensuing discussion might touch upon unionization issues.”


Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) asked Mr. F. Vincent Vernuccio, President of the Institute for the American Worker about the impact of using card check rather than secret ballots during union elections. “Card check is absolutely inferior to a secret ballot election,” said Mr. Vernuccio. “The secret ballot gives [these] workers the opportunity to have a private vote where they can reflect on unionization, where there is not intimidation, where there is not coercion, and make that choice.”
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) highlighted the economic success and worker freedom seen in right-to-work states, “Right to work drives job creation. If you look at a study that was done…they found that there was higher employment and population growth in right-to-work states” said Mr. Aaron Solem, Staff Attorney at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “But the best thing about right to work isn’t necessarily economic growth, it’s about employee free choice.”  

Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO) emphasized the need for his bill, the Worker Enfranchisement Act—legislation that would require the participation of a two-thirds quorum of eligible employees in unionization elections, guaranteeing that a strong majority of workers’ voices are heard. “Unions have at times hijacked these [election] processes, sometimes with surprising results. According to research…just 4.9 percent of current union workers have ever voted for the union that represents them. Unions frequently discourage workers who they know will vote against them during elections from voting altogether, leading to elections where only a handful of workers show up to vote and unionize an entire workplace,” Rep. Onder explained.

In an exchange with Mr. Solem, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) asked about how the Biden-Harris administration’s rule allowing certain types of unfair labor practice charges to block a Board-scheduled elections. “Can you explain the differences between the Trump and Biden policies as they relate to unfair labor practice charges, and do you believe the Biden-era blocking charge policy effectively weaponized unfair labor practice claims to stop workers from voting to de-certify a union?” she asked.  
“You’re absolutely correct,” Mr. Solem replied. “Under the Biden rule, any unfair labor practice that’s filed—regardless of if it’s meritorious or not—will stop an election. So it incentivizes filing charges just to increase delay.”
Bottom line: Republicans are working to promote worker choice, provide legal predictability and stability for employers, and give workers better access to fair representation in union elections.