Today, the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing with National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Chairman James Murphy and General Counsel Crystal Carey—the first sitting Member or General Counsel of the NLRB to appear before the Committee in nearly 20 years.
“From my experience I can tell you there are many things that come into play after a unit is certified or voluntarily recognized by an employer. That includes extensive requests for information relating to the specific employer, the industry, the business, the wants [and] needs of the employees in the union. Those take time to respond to and we need to provide time for the union also to put together their proposal,” Ms. Carey explained.
Simply put, the negotiation process shouldn’t be rushed. Workers deserve to have time to gather information and decide what to include in their contract.
Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) highlighted the need for government to stay out of union negotiations. “The Supreme Court said about collective bargaining and I quote, ‘it was recognized from the beginning that agreement might in some cases be impossible and it was never intended that the government would in such cases step in, become a party to the negotiations, and impose its own views of a desirable settlement,’” he said.
Unfortunately, several Members of Congress are pushing for legislation that puts a clock on union negotiations and requires a third party to step in if a first agreement is taking too long.
A recent report shows that the Biden-Harris NLRB pursued sweeping policy changes, allowing case backlogs to grow to thousands of unresolved labor disputes. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) asked General Counsel Carey more about how mismanagement created a significant backlog of cases.
“Honestly, it was a mess…There were so many cases that were prioritized to be sent to advice because the former general counsel wanted to overturn precedent that cases were being stalled out in regions repeatedly…,” she explained.
Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO)highlighted his bill the Worker Enfranchisement Act, which requires two-thirds of eligible employees to be present in unionization elections for the results to be deemed valid.
“You’re absolutely right, the more voters present the better it is. That’s one reason why we have a preference for in-person manual ballot elections—[it creates] the highest participation rate,” said Chairman Murphy.
The Biden-Harris NLRB's Cemex decision expanded card-check organizing and mandatory union recognition, making it easier for unions to gain representation without traditional secret-ballot elections. Chairman Walberg raised concerns over the effects of the Cemex decision in a letter to Chairman Murphy in April after reports surfaced of a fraudulent card check certification. The Committee is protecting worker choice and the democratic process in the workplace.
Bottom line: The Biden-Harris NLRB prioritized expanding union power over protecting worker choice and maintaining longstanding labor-law precedent. The Trump administration is working to restore balance, worker freedom, and neutrality at the NLRB.
