Top NLRB Precedents in Jeopardy Under an Obama Labor Board

http://www.law.com/jsp/ihc/PubArticleIHC.jsp?id=1202427454956

Paul Galligan
New York Law Journal
January 15, 2009
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Federal labor law is in a state of flux. There are several pro-union bills pending before Congress designed to make it significantly easier for unions to organize, such as the Employee Free Choice Act and the Respect Act. There will also be a changing of the guard at the National Labor Relations Board in 2009 that promises to roll back the pro-employer decisions of the 2004-2007 board, led by President George W. Bush-appointed Chairman Robert J. Battista.

Between 2004 and 2007, the so-called "Bush board," utilizing a 3-2 Bush-appointed majority, established several precedents favorable to employers, reversed several Clinton-era board precedents and was subject to heavy criticism by unions and its own minority members. Now, President-elect Barack Obama, who just selected Hilda Solis, a strong union supporter, as his secretary of Labor, will have the opportunity to dramatically reshape the NLRB by appointing pro-union board members.

It is widely predicted that the new Obama board will reverse as many of these controversial pro-employer Bush board precedents as they can get their hands on.

This article discusses the top 10 (there are more than 10) pro-employer Bush board decisions that are now in jeopardy, understanding that it may take some time before the issues in question are presented to the Obama board as appeals from decisions of the board's administrative law judges.

POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS

Between 2004 and 2007, the NLRB had a 3-2 majority of Bush-appointed members, with Chairman Robert Battista, Member Peter Schaumber and either Member Ronald Meisburg or Member Peter Kirsanow forming the majority and Democrat appointees Wilma Liebman and Dennis Walsh dissenting on practically every important decision. Due to political wrangling between the Bush White House and the Democratic Congress, the board has only contained two members since January 2008, Chairman Schaumber and Member Liebman.

In 2009, it is expected that the board will regain its full quota of five members which typically includes three members linked to the party of the sitting president. While it is too early to tell who President Obama will nominate to the board, it is likely that Wilma Liebman will be appointed as chairperson of the board along with two labor lawyers with union backgrounds and a labor lawyer proposed by the Republicans to ease the nominations through Congress early in 2009.

FULL story at link.