OpenMarket: Labor and Employment

Labor unions like to promote the narrative that dues payments stay local. If you peruse union websites, a consistent message appears that reads something like this: “Most of your dues stay with your local union in order to fund activities that give workers more power at the bargaining table, in the statehouse and in the community.” Unions use the “dues stay local” slogan as a selling point during organizing campaigns and to recruit new members.

Republican appointees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have become the target of an ongoing campaign by Democrats to silence their voices and ability to administer the law. Since Republicans took a majority at the NLRB, Democrats have been trying to manipulate ethics rules to pressure Republican members into recusing themselves from important cases before the board.

The primary labor and employment statutes—National Labor Relations Act and Fair Labor Standards Act—have not been substantially amended for decades. A divided government is not likely to change that. What will change is the proposed legislation that will gain traction in the House of Representatives. 

AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka frequently lambasts companies for not “sharing the wealth” with employees. Joining a union is a surefire way to see an increase in pay and benefits, he argues. Surely, then, the AFL-CIO must practice what it preaches by providing its own staff with above-average pay and benefits, right?

Yesterday, I attended the Department of Labor’s final overtime listening session. It was an opportunity for the DOL to hear from the public on how best to craft a rule on who is eligible or exempt from overtime requirements. The recently released Fall 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions announced that a proposed overtime rule would be published in March of 2019.

Deregulation is a topline goal of the current administration. Leading the pack in terms of costs savings from reducing red tape is the Department of Labor, according to recent report from the American Action Forum, with $417.2 million.

On September 17, Sen. Warren sent a letter to the NLRB warning that it must “fully comply with federal ethics regulations during reconsideration” of whether employees may use an employer’s email system for union organizing purposes. Her letter calls for the recusal of Republican Board member William Emanuel in the case Rio All-Suites Hotel. But Sen. Warren’s analysis of the ethics standard shows either a misunderstanding of the rules or is an attempt to obstruct the NLRB from taking legitimate action.

Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel’s office issued a directive that provides clarification for when field offices should pursue charges “against unions for ‘negligent’ behavior such as losing an employees’ complaint or not returning phone calls when the worker has questions,” according to a document obtained by Bloomberg Law.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is attempting to undermine another case before the National Labor Relations Board. In a transparent political stunt, the senator is pushing an ethics complaint as a means to block the board from administering the National Labor Relations Act.

A political campaign to obstruct the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from properly administering the National Labor Relations Act is in full swing. Democrats and their union allies have used invented ethics standards in attempts to force Republican board members to recuse themselves from participating in cases.