In the shadow of the intense media coverage last month surrounding the Voting Rights Act, affirmative action, the Defense of Marriage Act, and Proposition 8, the justices quietly agreed to hear two cases that could devastate unions in the private sector.

The first case, Noel Canning v. NLRB, arises out of the dysfunction gripping the U.S. Senate. For years now, the chamber's Republican minority has refused to confirm presidential appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, the government agency that protects the union rights of workers. As a result, the NLRB has struggled to maintain the three-member quorum necessary for it to legally function. To circumvent Senate obstruction, President Obama has been forced to name new NLRB members during Senate recesses. To choke off these appointments, Senate Republicans have more recently refused to go into recess by seizing upon technicalities that keep the body perpetually in session.

Despite this maneuvering, President Obama continued to make recess appointments to the NLRB without seeking Senate confirmation. His administration has argued that the Senate goes into recess when it effectively shuts down, even if the Senate claims it is still in session. To finally resolve this conflict, the Supreme Court in the Noel Canning case will decide under what circumstances the President can make recess appointments to the NLRB. Given the conservative orientation of the present Supreme Court, it is entirely possible that these recess appointments will be ruled invalid.

Such a ruling would essentially give Senate Republicans a blank check to neuter the only agency empowered to enforce the country's labor laws.

A non-functional NLRB would, for instance, leave workers illegally fired or intimidated by employers during union organizing drives with nowhere to turn. Additionally, without an NLRB to resolve union election disputes, unions may find it nearly impossible to become the certified representatives of new groups of workers. It is hard to imagine any union successfully organizing new workers under these conditions.