"Gramps" vows to hold up labor board nominee

[Earth Bound Misfit]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hJUX2JlS_4tPk3KpZvm-oLELHcUAD9BFMSJ00

WASHINGTON — Another Obama administration nominee is facing a GOP roadblock over his ties to labor unions.

Arizona Sen. John McCain said Wednesday he would place a hold on the confirmation of union lawyer Craig Becker to join the National Labor Relations Board, saying Becker might try to make labor laws more union friendly without congressional approval.

McCain made his comments just minutes before a Senate panel voted 15-8 to approve Becker's nomination. Under Senate rules, a single lawmaker can block a full vote on the Senate floor.

"This is probably the most controversial nominee that I have seen in a long time," McCain said. His remarks echoed complaints by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and dozens of business groups that claim Becker's views are "out of the mainstream."

Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, called Becker "one of the pre-eminent labor law thinkers in the United States" and said he was confident Becker would approach the job "with an impartial and open mind."

snip

The fight over Becker is an early skirmish in the broader debate over efforts to pass legislation that would make it easier to form unions. The Employee Free Choice Act has stalled in the Senate, but business groups say some of Becker's writings indicate he would try to implement parts of the bill through board action.

Harkin compared Becker's law review articles to a professor trying to stimulate broader thinking. He said Becker understands the difference between being "an intellectual advocate" and serving on the board.

The committee on Wednesday cleared two other NLRB nominees — Democrat Mark Pearce and Republican Brian Hayes — by unanimous consent.

For those who need a few chuckles, here's a link to extreme RW site that calls itself the "Alliance for Worker Freedom" a "special project" of Americans for Tax Reform, whose founder and president is Grover Norquist :puke:

http://workerfreedom.org/mccain-bucks-senate-leadership-labor-board-a3707

You might want to bring one of these along...

[JoeyT]

1. Well

If McCain and the CoC are against him, he might turn out to be a good pick.

[JDPriestly]

2. Brian Hayes was a lawyer for employers. Senator McCain, elections have consequences.

If an employer defense attorney can be appointed to the NLRB, so can a plaintiff's attorney.

Brian Hayes currently serves as the Republican Labor Policy Director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). Previously, Mr. Hayes was in private legal practice for over twenty-five years. His practice was devoted exclusively to representing management clients in all aspects of labor and employment law. He has represented employers in scores of cases before the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and various state fair employment practice agencies. He has served as chief trial counsel in the full range of employment claims in both state and Federal courts. Mr. Hayes has extensive experience in negotiating labor contracts on behalf of management clients, as well as representing clients in arbitrations, mediations and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. He has argued a number of significant labor cases before the Federal Courts of Appeal; and regularly counseled clients regarding compliance with the full range of state and Federal labor laws including OSHA, FMLA, Title VII and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Before entering private practice, Mr. Hayes clerked for the Chief Judge of the National Labor Relations Board and thereafter served as Counsel to the Chairman of the NLRB. In addition to his private practice Mr. Hayes was a member of the adjunct faculty at Western New England Law School where he taught classes in Labor Law, Collective-Bargaining, Arbitration and Employment Litigation. He is a member of the Massachusetts and District of Columbia bars, and the American Bar Association and its Labor and Employment Law Section. Mr. Hayes earned his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

http://www.szone.us/f24/president-obama-announces-intent-nominate-brian-hayes-nlrb-member-31289/

[Demoiselle]

3. And McCain is a "moderate" Republican? Oh, please. nt

[BrklynLiberal]

5. Right....How the hell that label "moderate" still clings to him is beyond my comprehension.

[Omaha Steve]

4. I just posted this in LBN

Looks like you eat me to it.

K&R!

[Earth Bound Misfit]

6. Here's why they're in such a PANIC over Becker's appointment

From the NLRA: http://www.nlrb.gov/about_us/overview/national_labor_relations_act.aspx

Sec. 6. <§ 156. Rules and regulations> The Board shall have authority from time to time to make, amend, and rescind, in the manner prescribed by the Administrative Procedure Act (by subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5), such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act .

The Administrative Procedure Act: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/laws/administrative-procedure/551.html

Administrative Procedure Act
•UNITED STATES CODE
◦TITLE 5 - GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
■PART I - THE AGENCIES GENERALLY
■CHAPTER 5 - ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE
■SUBCHAPTER II - ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE


§ 551. Definitions
For the purpose of this subchapter -

(1) ''agency'' means each authority of the Government of the United States, whether or not it is within or subject to review by another agency, but does not include -

(A) the Congress;
(B) the courts of the United States;
(C) the governments of the territories or possessions of the United States;
(D) the government of the District of Columbia;

NLRB Decisions Could Make Card Check a Reality
http://www.workforce.com/section/03/feature/26/52/97/265299.html

If the card-check provision of the Employee Free Choice Act fails to survive legislative negotiations, it may not necessarily die.

There is a possibility that the National Labor Relations Board could rule, if the right case comes along, that a company must recognize a union formed through the card-check process. Card check, also known as majority sign-up, means that a company recognizes a union if a majority of employees sign cards authorizing a bargaining unit.

snip

In 1947, the National Labor Relations Act was amended so that the NLRB had to resolve representation disputes through a secret-ballot election. In 1974, the Supreme Court ruled that an employer does not have to recognize a union even if a majority of workers have signed authorization cards. Instead, it could insist on a secret-ballot election.

But in making its ruling, the Supreme Court relied on the expertise of the NLRB in reading the labor statute, according to William Gould, a professor of law at Stanford University who was NLRB chairman from 1994 to 1998.

Gould says that the board frequently reverses itself in its interpretation of labor laws. A new NLRB could take a fresh look at card check and decide that is an acceptable way to create a union.

“The board could develop new expertise based on new evidence and new facts and come to a different conclusion,” Gould says. “In my judgment, yes, the board could issue such a ruling.”

snip

It’s difficult to predict whether the new NLRB will address card check. But experts agree that the board will revisit decisions made during the Bush administration.

One previous board ruling held that employees could file a decertification petition within 45 days of voluntary recognition of a union.

“That case will clearly be overturned by the Obama board,” says Charles Craver, a professor of law at George Washington University.

The C of C's:puke: letter to Kennedy (RIP) & Enzi :puke:
http://www.uschamber.com/NR/rdonlyres/ettxevxhnekd3wkr3cqekv7c6frknxbzziu52m3jmw74itsnlttljywtuk4qflagvhz2ij4l2mh3fsozgka3xz44dzc/090724_becker.pdf