NLRB Update: Everyone But Becker

Senate confirms Pearce and Hayes, sidelines SEIU's Becker.

According to Bloomberg...

The National Labor Relations Board reached its full five-member size for the first time since December 2007 after the U.S. Senate confirmed two of President Barack Obama’s nominees.

Brian Hayes, a Republican Senate aide, was confirmed by the Senate as it approved a package of almost 70 of Obama’s stalled nominees. The Senate also confirmed Mark Pearce, a Democrat Obama appointed to the board in March, for a full term.

However, the one person the Senate appears to have overlooked? The SEIU's Craig "Refuse to Recuse" Becker.

Becker, opposed by Republicans and business groups for his ties to labor unions, wasn’t confirmed by the Senate today. That means he will serve on the board only until the end of 2011, less than the full five-year term.

With Andy Stern opting to reside in Corporate America now, it appears the SEIU may not have as much sway as it did just a few short months ago.
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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Unionizing Doctors: SEIU already reaping rewards at having Craig Becker at the NLRB

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is already reaping the rewards of having its Associate General Counsel Craig Becker sitting on the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

On June 3rd, the union-controlled NLRB issued a 2-1 decision denying a request for review (a form of appeal) by St. Barnabas Hospital regarding the unionization of its resident physicians.  The two board members were former-Teamster attorney (and current NLRB chairman) Wilma Liebman and SEIU's former associate general counsel Craig Becker.  The dissenter was the last remaining GOP appointee Peter Schaumber (whose term expires in August).

Legitimate and unanswered questions still remain about why the SEIU's Becker refuses to recuse himself on cases involving the SEIU, but the fact is, the SEIU's presence on the labor board is already reaping rewards for the purple behemoth.

Resident physicians at St. Barnabas Hospital voted overwhelmingly to form a union after a two-year fight. The National Labor Relations Board today announced a 119 to 2 vote in favor of the residents and interns of joining the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare as their exclusive bargaining agent.

“St. Barnabas's frontline caregivers haven't had the voice they need to advocate for a better, safer hospital for themselves and the Bronx community,” said Eric Scherzer, Executive Director of CIR, in a statement. “With today's vote, they'll be able to work cooperatively with management to achieve their goals.”

But the hospital immediately said it may appeal an NLRB decision that allowed the vote to be counted.

A St. Barnabas spokesman also noted that just 121 of the 280 eligible residents chose to vote, but the union says that total is misleading. A total of 168 votes were cast; St. Barnabas challenged 47 of them because they belonged to residents leaving at the end of the month. CIR agreed to let the remaining 121 votes be counted first, while the the remaining challenged ballots would only be opened if the outcome was in question.

While the hospital is appealing the NLRB's refusal to review its case, the NLRB's current position (unless overturned by the courts) enables the SEIU (and other unions) to unionize resident physicians across the nation, adding tens of thousands of members (and millions of dollars) to the SEIU's rolls and treasury.

You didn't really think the SEIU pushed for nationalized health care for altruistic purposes, did you?
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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

SEIU's Becker Wrongly Splits Hairs on Recusing Himself on SEIU's cases at NLRB

Earlier this week, we pointed out SEIU-attorney-turned-NLRB-member Craig Becker's seeming violation of his ethics pledge by ruling on a case involving the SEIU, in breach of the two year moratorium.

A mere five days later, in another case (ironically involving the SEIU again), Becker takes the chance to address his critics with thumb planted firmly on nose, stating that the reason he is (and, presumably, will continue) ruling on cases involving the SEIU is because SEIU locals are different from the SEIU international union.

...the Moving Parties ask that I recuse myself on the grounds that local labor organizations affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are parties to the cases. Prior to the commencement of my service on the Board, I was employed by and served as counsel to the SEIU. I resigned that position and ceased all such representation effective April 4, 2010, prior to being sworn in as a Member of the Board. Pursuant to the President’s Executive Order and Title 5 of the Code, I have pledged to recuse myself from all cases to which SEIU is a party for a period of 2 years subsequent to April 5, 2010. That pledge, however, does not require me to recuse myself from all cases in which local unions affiliated with the SEIU are parties.

SEIU is a separate and distinct legal entity from the many local labor organizations affiliated with SEIU. The courts have clearly distinguished local unions as autonomous entities separate and apart from international unions with which they are affiliated. [Emphasis added.]

A splitting of the hairs Absolutely.

Moreover, it's a faulty argument.  The SEIU has control over its locals and for Craig Becker to argue that they are separate and distinct is like stating that a parent has no responsibility for its child.

While it is true that the Service Employees International Union is a separate legal entity from its local unions, the international is, in fact the parent of those locals.

More importantly, the SEIU's own union constitution (in PDF) seems to contradict Mr. Becker's argument:

This organization shall be known as the Service Employees International Union, affiliated with Change to Win and the Canadian Labour Congress, and shall consist of an unlimited number of Local Unions chartered by it, and the membership thereof, and such affiliated bodies as may be established from time to time. [Article I, p. 3]

It appears there's not much distinction. Then, of course, there this:

Article III


JURISDICTION AND MEMBERSHIP

Section 1. The International Union shall be composed of and have jurisdiction over its affiliated bodies and all Local Unions composed of working men and women who are employed or engaged in any phase of private, nonprofit or public employment... [Article III, p. 4]

...and this...

The International President is empowered to construe the jurisdiction above defined to embrace all classifications of workers within any establishment anywhere in the world.


Section 2(a). The International Union shall have jurisdiction over the Local Unions and their members and over all affiliated bodies. 

and this [note the term with the approval of]:...

(c). With the approval of the International Union, Local Unions may establish different categories of membership and rates of dues for persons represented and not represented by the Local Union for collective bargaining purposes including, but not limited to, life members, retired members and associate members.

...and this certainly appears that the SEIU International President can "require and direct" local unions...

(f). Consistent with the programs and policies adopted by the SEIU Convention delegates, the International President shall be empowered to negotiate and enter into national, regional, or areawide collective bargaining agreements, including companywide or multi-employer agreements, and to coordinate activities toward this end in consultation with the Local Unions involved, and is authorized to require and direct coordinated bargaining among Local Unions. [Article VIII, p. 13]

...or this...

(h). The International President shall have authority to interpret this Constitution and Bylaws and decide on all points of law submitted to him or her by Local Unions or the membership thereof, or by affiliated bodies, subject to appeal to the International Executive Board, and the next Convention. [Article VIII, p. 14]

...and this...

Section 2. Any member or officer of a Local Union aggrieved by any action of his or her Local Union or affiliated body not covered by the provisions of Article XVII of this Constitution (including determinations of election protests) may petition the International President within 15 days after the act complained of, or may petition the International Executive Board, within 15 days after the action of the International President thereon, to review the action of the Local Union or affiliated body. [Article VIII, p. 14]

...or this...

Section 4. The International President shall sign all charters and other official documents of this International Union; shall have the authority to direct an examination of the books and records of any Local Union or affiliated body;... [Article VIII, p. 14]

...and, of course, this...

Section 7(a). Whenever the International President has reason to believe that, in order to protect the interests of the membership, it is necessary to appoint a Trustee for the purpose of correcting corruption or financial malpractice, assuring the performance of collective bargaining agreements or other duties of a bargaining representative, restoring democratic procedures, or otherwise carrying out the legitimate objects of this International Union, he or she may appoint such Trustee to take charge and control of the affairs of a Local Union or of an affiliated body and such appointment shall have the effect of removing the officers of the Local Union or affiliated body. [Article VIII, p. 15]

...and the Trustees powers over a local?

(b). The Trustee shall be authorized and empowered to take full charge of the affairs of the Local Union or affiliated body and its related benefit funds, to remove any of its employees, agents and/or trustees of any funds selected by the Local Union or affiliated body and appoint such agents, employees or fund trustees during his or her trusteeship, and to take such other action as in his or her judgment is necessary for the preservation of the Local Union or affiliated body and for the protection of the interests of the membership.

Sounds like the SEIU is in charge of its locals, doesn't it?

Section 4. No Local Union shall have any right to pay any bills before it pays its full obligation to the International Union each month. [Article XIII, p. 24]

And, of course, the SEIU international constitution "governs" its locals...

Section 3. The Constitution and Bylaws of all Local Unions and affiliated bodies and amendments thereto must be submitted to the International Union and be approved before they become valid; provided, however, that notwithstanding such approval, the Constitution and Bylaws of all Local Unions and affiliated bodies shall at all times be subordinate to the Constitution and Bylaws of the International Union as it may be amended from time to time .... Regardless of approval, if any conflict should arise between the Constitution and Bylaws of a Local Union and affiliated bodies or any amendments thereto, and the Constitution and Bylaws of the International Union as it may be amended from time to time, the provisions of the Constitution and Bylaws of the International Union shall govern. [Article XV, p. 27]

So, while Mr. Becker may try to argue that the SEIU is different from its local unions, the truth is the SEIU exercise a lot of power over its locals, making the SEIU the parent to its children.

Either way, it's the same house!

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

He almost certainly broke his ethics pledge, but did the SEIU's Craig Becker break the LAW?

It's not like we're shocked (is anything involving unions really shocking anymore?)....

Still, it is pretty blatant for the SEIU's former assistant general counsel, Craig Becker, who is now sitting on the National Labor Relations Board to be issuing decisions on behalf of the SEIU.  Especially when Becker seems to be in clear breach of his signed ethics pledge where he pledged:

I will not for a period of two years from the date of my appointment participate in any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to my former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts.

So, after reading the above pledges (and presuming that it his signature on the pledge), it might be hard for him to explain this:

St. Barnabas Hospital and Committee of Interns and Residents, Local 1957, SEIU, Petitioner. Case 2–RC–23356

June 3, 2010

ORDER DENYING REVIEW

BY CHAIRMAN LIEBMAN AND MEMBERS SCHAUMBER AND BECKER

The National Labor Relations Board, by a three member panel, has carefully considered the Employer’s request for review of the Regional Director’s Decision and Direction of Election. The Regional Director directed an election among the Employer’s house staff. The Employer asserts, among other reasons, that the Regional Director should have considered the applicability of Brown University, 342 NLRB 483 (2004). We deny review.

Are you shocked?  If so, why?
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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

EFCA may be "dead" in Congress, but unions are running the NLRB

According to U.S. Representative Phil Roe (R-TN), the job destroying and hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act is "dead" this year.

U.S. Rep. Phil Roe says legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize in the workplace is dead in Congress.


Roe, R-Tenn., recently told human resources professionals at the Kingsport’s MeadowView Marriott that the “Employee Free Choice Act” won’t come back up in this congressional session.


[snip]


“Unless the Senate acted on it, (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi said she would not bring it to the House floor,” Roe told those attending a labor and employment seminar put on by the Kingsport-based Hunter, Smith and Davis law firm. “It won’t be back. ... You will not see that in this Congress. It’s deader than a doornail.”

While this is certainly good news (Scott Brown helped confirm this months ago), the other shoe is dropping over at the National Labor Relations Board, where unions control the government agency like a pitbull's jaws on a chihuahua's throat.

Since SEIU-appointee Craig Becker and union attorney Mark Pearce were seated alongside former Teamster attorney (and current NLRB Chairman) Wilma Liebman, the agency has become to unions what the KGB was to the Kremlin.  And, it's only going to get worse in the months and years ahead.

Already, the NLRB has begun using press releases to tout union "wins," while seemingly ignoring rulings against unions (like this one).

With the General Counsel, Republican-appointee Ron Meisberg resigning two months before his term expires and the last Republican-appointee leaving in August, the union-controlled NLRB will have carte blanche ability to run roughshod over America's union-free workers and their employers.

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Where is Craig Becker?

A reader sent us a note a few minutes ago with the subject line:  What is Craig Becker doing?

Becker sworn in two days BEFORE Pearce.  To date, 6 decisions have issued.  Pearce is on all 6; Becker on none.  So...is Becker doing heavy lifting on some more important case?

Now, that is an interesting question:   Where is Becker?

Has anyone seen him?

After all of the union hoopla and misleading talking points to get him seated on to the National Labor Relations Board, he's just sort of...disappeared.

Immediately, our thoughts turned toward the more sinister...

Perhaps Becker's in some back office at the NLRB rewriting the National Labor Relations Act for his union boss buddies?

Perhaps he is being kept on ice until after the November mid-term elections are over?

Or, perhaps, his union boss buddies have him preoccupied with something else?


When we find out, we'll let you know.

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Despite Recess Appointment, White House Presses on for NLRB's Becker

Despite the unilateral recess appointment of SEIU radical Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board last month, the President is continuing to push the Becker issue by nominating Becker again for a full board seat:

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

_________________________________________

For Immediate Release                         April 21, 2010

Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate, 4/21/10

NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE:

Craig Becker, of Illinois, to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board for the term of five years expiring December 16, 2014, vice Dennis P. Walsh, to which position he was appointed during the last recess of the Senate.

If at first you don't succeed...

hat-tip
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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

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With or Without EFCA, a Union-Run NLRB Makes Business Jumpy

The job-destroying and hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) may have suffered a near-fatal blow with the election of Scott Brown to the Senate in February, but employers are not without concern regarding the impact that a union-friendly administration may have on their businesses.

Unfortunately, with unemployment high and businesses unwilling (or unable) to hire, if President Obama was trying to bring America back from the brink of economic disaster by creating a climate that is 'pro-business,' he sure missed the mark with last month's recess appointment of SEIU lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board.

To say the new union-run NLRB has the business community concerned is an understatement. As Politico reports:

Republicans and the business community have better-grounded reasons to worry about what will happen at the NLRB, which has a long history of overruling itself when the White House changes parties.

[snip]

Union leaders have sought, through the proposed Employee Free Choice Act, to create an alternative method to organizing that would allow workers to sign cards expressing their desire to join a union. Now that Becker is on the board, Isakson is working with colleagues to draft legislation that would make it a federal law — rather than a regulation — to require unions to hold organizing elections.

In an interview, NLRB Chairwoman Wilma Liebman said that at best, the NLRB could tinker around the edges of current organizing rules by expediting union elections. But even that would have to be done through a process called rulemaking, which the board hasn’t exercised in decades.

Liebman spooked the business community last year when she organized staff educational sessions on that process. She told POLITICO that she did that in anticipation of passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, after which the NLRB would be required to write implementation rules.

“Now, it doesn’t look like we will have a labor reform law passed,” she said, referring to the successful GOP filibuster of the legislation.

Still, Johnson is keeping the business community on edge by warning that the NLRB could try to act on its own, even though Liebman, a 12-year board veteran, says it can’t, and that, as chairwoman, she doesn’t intend to move in that direction.

“Rulemaking is not something you snap your fingers and you do. My recommendation is, if we try it, we stick our toe in the water with something small and discreet. Wholesale, radical, sweeping reform,” she said, “is quite unrealistic.”  [Emphasis added.]

Regardless of its smallness or its discreetness, the push to expand unions through regulatory fiat is something that, in this economic climate, causes many businesses to think twice about hiring.  As a result, any momentum an economic recovery could be getting is merely slowed.
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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Craig Becker's New NLRB Page

Craig Becker's bio page is up on the NLRB's website.  There's no picture yet, but here's the text:

Craig Becker was sworn in as a Board Member on April 05, 2010, following his recess appointment by President Obama.

Craig Becker has served as Associate General Counsel to both the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations. He graduated summa cum laude from Yale College in 1978 and received his J.D. in 1981 from Yale Law School where he was an Editor of the Yale Law Journal. After law school he clerked for the Honorable Donald P. Lay, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. For 28 years, he practiced and taught labor law. He was a Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law between 1989 and 1994 and has also taught at the University of Chicago and Georgetown Law Schools. He has published numerous articles on labor and employment law in scholarly journals, including the Harvard Law Review and Chicago Law Review, and has argued labor and employment cases in virtually every federal court of appeals and before the United States Supreme Court.

With Andy Stern leaving the SEIU, all the photo albums must be getting one last teary-eyed look.
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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

A Hollywood Republican: Craig Becker Is Now the Deciding Vote on the NLRB

Though we did not realize there was such a think as a "Hollywood Republican," apparently there is at least one and he happened to write a great post about President Obama's unilateral appointment last weekend of SEIU strong-man Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board in which he closes with this:

I don't think I'm disturbed as much about Craig Becker as I am about Obama. Becker is a hired gun paid to represent very powerful union bosses. I understand that he believes he should do whatever it takes to push his agenda on behalf of his clients, just as any lawyer would. No, I'm much more concerned about Obama. The American people did not elect a President to exclusively represent union interests. They did not elect Obama to create a fourth branch of government called SEIU. It's been two months since the State of the Union address in which Obama proclaimed "that's why we've excluded lobbyists from policymaking jobs". Does Obama really think that the American people have a memory of less than 8 weeks? Unbelievable.

You can read the rest of a Hollywood Republican's post here.

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Humor Warning: Obama Signs Executive Order Granting Unions Religious Status

From our inbox moments ago...

Knowing that, left alone, the title of this post would cause much consternation, we provided the "humor warning" to ensure there is no confusion that this is a spoof*:

Obama Signs Executive Order Granting Unions Religious Status

Newly appointed labor appointee Craig Pecker, sporting a gold fez and holding the spear of destiny, pulled President Obama out of his pocket long enough for him to sign an executive order to grant Labor Unions religious status.

Political experts were shocked at the act but not because it was audacious, insulting, and/or ridiculous. Their confusion came from the fact that Obama had already done this with his first executive order, once inaugurated, over a year ago and just moments before he was awarded the Nobel Peace prize.

Mr. Obama said something about his campaign pledge for transparency and yes we see right through you Mr. President. Mr. Becker allowed interviews but only after a sizable donation and threats of broken arms.

* Note: It has been said that, behind every joke is a grain of truth.

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Cross-posted.

Recuse Thyself, Mr. Becker...

This is rich, too rich...

On the SEIU's Craig "Demon Pass" Becker's potential conflicts of interest, the battle is beginning.

From the Wall Street Journal:

No sooner did President Barack Obama exercise his recess-appointment powers to put labor lawyer Craig Becker into a seat at the National Labor Relations Board than a group that has challenged unions said it will ask Becker to recuse himself from 12 pending cases before the board.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation said Becker, who has served as counsel for the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO, should not hear cases in which the foundation is providing legal aid to workers, because Becker directly opposed the group while serving as counsel for the SEIU and because his prior writings demonstrate a bias against the group.

“We just don’t think he’s going to be able to impartially adjudicate cases involving the Foundation’s attorneys,” said Nick Cote, a spokesman for the group. He cited several writings, including a 2005 article that Becker co-wrote in the Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law in which the foundation is referred to as “funded by the most anti-union fringe of the employer community.” [Emphasis added.]

Given that Becker worked for the SEIU and the AFL-CIO (a federation that consists of 57-individual unions), as well as the fact that Becker is the only known NLRB member to have gone straight from union hack advocate to the NLRB, we are hard-pressed to see where there is not a conflict of interest involving any case that has one of his union bosses as a party.

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Cross-posted.

Image Credit: Labor Pains

The SEIU, the NLRB & Recess Appointments: A Shrewd Obama Trick?

If you work in the private sector (except for airlines and railroads) the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) is a little known agency that can have a huge impact on your work life.  Given that the goal of union bosses is to turn millions of Americans into dues-paying union members, what happens at the NLRB is of consequence to you, whether you're an employee or an employer.

Over the weekend, President Obama 'recess appointed' two union lawyers (SEIU and AFL-CIO attorney Craig Becker, as well as union lawyer Mark Pearce) to the National Labor Relations Board.  The highly controversial Becker is the only known NLRB member to have gone from employment by a union directly to the NLRB.

[Although current NLRB Chair Wilma Liebman is a former union attorney employed by the Teamsters and Bricklayers' unions and is considered highly pro-union, she did spend time in other governmental capacities prior to being appointed to the NLRB.]

Obama's recess appointments of Becker and Pearce has rightfully angered the business community, those job creators whom President Obama claims to respect.

[We have compiled a round-up of commentary here.]

What is very interesting about Obama's blatant catering to union-boss wishes is his purposeful neglect of his Republican nominee Brian Hayes.  [Hayes was part of Obama's three-member nominee package last year.]

As über-blogger Bret Jacobson notes on Big Government.com*:

[T]he president has gone well outside the norm of history by failing to appoint a Republican and Democrat at the same time. Some worry he is trying to stack the deck to make sure government can — as they have said in their own words — “change the rules governing forming a union through administrative action” even without passing a card check bill.

Former NLRB member and attorney Peter Kirsanow takes this a step further writing in the National Review:

Lost in the noise concerning Becker's recess appointment, however, are signals that the Obama administration is playing a rather shrewd longer-term game concerning the NLRB.

As another former NLRB member and attorney, John Raudabaugh, writes on his firm's website:

More change is imminent. Current Republican Member Schaumber’s term ends August 27, 2010, and current General Counsel Meisburg’s term ends August 14, 2010. It is possible that Becker and Pearce will be packaged along with Hayes and a yet-unnamed Republican nominee for a Board seat and a Democrat nominee to fill the General Counsel position sometime this summer. Such a move would convert Becker and Pearce from recess appointees to confirmed members with the longest available terms all reallocated to Democrats.

As the law firm of Ogletree Deakins asserts:

If those vacancies are not filled, there would be no Board Member to write dissenting opinions to help guide reviewing federal courts on appeal.

Former NLRB member Kirsanow, however, suggests there could be an even more sinister goal of the administration afoot:

[Hayes] was not among the recess appointments this weekend. This suggests that the president may be using the appointment of Hayes as leverage to get the Senate to confirm the original three-nominee package.

Why is this of note? Because recess appointments last only until congress adjourns at the end of 2011. But if the senate confirms Becker and Pearce in exchange for getting Hayes on board also, Becker and Pearce's confirmed terms would be extended by approximatelythree more years — plenty of time for the Obama Board to make a substantial imprint on labor law.

In other words, Becker and Pearce's appointments may be being used as a trap to lure the Senate (Republicans) into giving Becker and Pearce full terms on the NLRB.  If the Senate falls goes for it, as opposed to mere 'recess appointments,' the union bosses at the SEIU and AFL-CIO will have near-full reign on the NLRB for years to come and, as a result, have more damaging effects through an agency that governs nearly every private-sector workplace.

[* Emphasis added throughout.]

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Cross-posted.

Putting Employers 'Out of Their Misery:' A Round-up on the New Union-Controlled NLRB

Yesterday, President Obama recess-appointed SEIU and AFL-CIO attorney Craig Becker, along with union attorney Mark Pearce to the National Labor Relations Board, making the “bi-partisan” Board a tool of union bosses.

[NLRB Chairman Wilma Liebman is an attorney formerly employed by the Teamsters and Bricklayers' unions.]

With only one Republican Board member to three union-side Board members, even the slightest modicum of ‘neutrality’ on the Board is finished.

The following is a round-up from around the web [with emphasis added throughout]:

From the American Thinker:

I think it's safe to say that the NLRB is now about as impartial a body as Robespierre's Revolutionary Tribunal that condemned tens of thousands to the guillotine during the French Revolution.

Now that SEIU flunky Craig Becker has been added to the board via recess appointment, it will be as if Andy Stern woke up on Christmas morning with this heart's desire in his stocking...

The Las Vegas Review Journal:

In past writings, Mr. Becker reveals himself as a radical collectivist who questions the sanctity of private property, rails against "individualism" and argues that unions are necessary in order to combat the evils of "competition and contract."

At a time when the president should be bending over backward to reassure the nation's employers that he's not some Marxist out to further punish them, appointing a character of Mr. Becker's background is like handing the NLRB a pistol and saying, "Put them out of their misery."

The American Spectator:

Acting like a Latin American caudillo President Obama continues to thumb his nose at Congress, daring Republican members of the House of Representatives to begin impeachment proceedings against him.

[snip]

Becker also believes that all Americans should be forced to join unions whether they want to or not.

The Washington Examiner:

There’s no compelling reason for such a radical advocate to be given such an important post. Aside from the problem of the fox guarding the hen house, it just reeks of political payback. Unions spent $400 million getting Democrats elected in 2008 and now Obama’s going to stack the deck in their favor, killing jobs and sticking it to the taxpayer in the process.

Katie Packer at Townhall.com:

Craig Becker’s nomination is a threat to the economy because he believes small businesses “should have no right to be heard in either a representation case or an unfair labor practices case” meaning “employers have no standing to assert their employees’ right to fair representation.” These are Becker’s own words, which were published in the University of Minnesota Law Review in 1993.

This extreme nominee believes employers should have no “legal standing” in the unionization process of their own workplace. Really? So the AFL-CIO’s Rich Trumka and the SEIU’s Andy Stern should have a voice in the unionization process and the guy who started the business should not? It would be laughable if it weren’t so serious.

The Daily Caller:

President Obama on Saturday gave organized labor a big payback for its help in pushing his health-care reform across the finish line, unilaterally appointing a controversial pro-union attorney to the body that arbitrates the rules for union elections, after his nomination attracted bipartisan opposition in the Senate.

Coming just a few days after the president’s health-care plan was passed into law despite opposition from Democrats and Republicans in Congress and strong disapproval in most public opinion polls, the move promised to only heighten political tension in Washington.

The American Pundit:

Becker isn’t just a thug, he’s a labor radical. He believes in mandatory unionization. He also believes “employers should be stripped of any legally cognizable interest in their employees’ election of representatives.” This guy has union bosses everywhere smiling as he will use his position on the NLRB to further unionize the country and place it under the control of powerful organized labor.

The Washington Examiner [part deux]:

Expect Becker to come on like a man possessed once he is ensconced at the NLRB because nobody expects the next Congress to be any more receptive to his appointment than the current one. But nine months of Becker on the NLRB is better than nothing, especially because the Senate has been markedly unsympathetic to Card Check, despite it being the union bosses' No. 1 legislative priority.

The Truth About EFCA blog: 

Card Check and NLRB: Raw Deal or New Deal?

“The NLRB is now 3 to 1. On August 27, it will be 3 to 0. Not since the New Deal and first six years of the NLRB, 1935-1941, has the Board been all Democrats or all from one party. Labor law reform followed in 1947 to balance the scales. Is the past to be prologue”

The Truth About EFCA (II):

“Becker is the first person ever to sit on the National Labor Relations Board that has worked directly for a labor organization. Those with business before the board have a right to face a fair and impartial panel, but it is highly doubtful that Becker will administer our nation’s labor laws in an unbiased manner.

“Radical partisanship has no place in a federal board designed as an independent agency to serve the public interest,” said Elmer. “Allowing Craig Becker a seat on the National Labor Relations Board will disrupt years of established precedent and the delicate balance in current labor law,” Elmer said.

The Workforce Fairness Institute:

“With today’s recess appointment, President Obama has completely undone his own argument concerning job creation and traded away any credibility his administration might have on the economy. Craig Becker’s nomination to the National Labor Relations Board will only result in higher unemployment and more burdens on small businesses due to his willingness to enact administratively portions of the Employee ‘Forced’ Choice Act.

Check back for more additions to this round-up.

Sen. Demint: The President is 'mocking Americans'...





Flashback: Senator Johnny Isakson [R-GA]:



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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

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BREAKING: Obama Pays Back SEIU & AFL-CIO Bosses, Makes Unilateral Recess Appointment of Craig Becker

Update:  Putting Employers 'Out of their Misery':  A Round-up on the Becker Appointment

As we've been forewarning for nearly a week, demonstrating his penchant for appeasing union allies, President Obama made a recess appointment earlier this afternoon of SEIU insider attorney Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board.

The US Chamber's Randal Johnson said of the appointment:

"This recess appointment disregards the Senate's bipartisan rejection of Craig Becker's nomination to the NLRB," Chamber Vice President Randel Johnson said in a written statement.

"Overriding the will of the Senate and providing this special interest payback contradicts the president's claim to change the tone in Washington," he said. "The business community should be on red alert for radical changes that could significantly impair the ability of America's job creators to compete."

According to the NLRB's press release:

President Barack Obama today announced the recess appointments of attorneys Craig Becker and Mark Gaston Pearce to fill two vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board.

[snip]

Becker has served as Associate General Counsel to both the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations.

[snip]

Pearce was a founding partner of the Buffalo, New York law firm of Creighton, Pearce, Johnsen & Giroux, where he practiced union side labor and employment law before state and federal courts and agencies.  [Emphasis added.]

The appointment today of both Becker and Pearce, while ignoring the nomination of a potential fifth Board member means that, instead of having a full NLRB of five members (which would normally consist of either three Democrats and two Republicans, or vice versa, depending on the party of the President), the NLRB will have three Democrats to one Republican, virtually guaranteeing all pro-union/anti-employer rulings in the future.

We will have more on this next week on LaborUnionReport.com, as well as our blog.

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

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BREAKING: Sen. Tom Harkin Confirm's Craig Becker Easter Recess Appointment to NLRB

As the nationalization of America's health care has captured the nation's attention this week (we've been posting HCR-related stories on LaborUnionReport.com), other than SEIU's Andy Stern gloating that the SEIU has changed America "forever," there has been little focus on other union-related issues.

Today, however, our focus is pivoting back to the over-riding union agenda, which is the unionization of America.  [Employers, it's time to get your armor on.]

The hard-left blog FireDogLake is reporting that Senator Harkin (D-IA) is promising that President Obama will be appointing SEIU-attorney Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board over the Easter recess.

Earlier this month, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis intimated that Craig Becker, a nominee for the currently non-functioning National Labor Relations Board, would get a recess appointment to the body. Now Tom Harkin is saying the same thing, telling CQ “It’s going to happen” during the Easter recess, set to begin March 26, or whenever the reconciliation bill is completed in the Senate.

                                                                                                       

To read the entire FDL post go here.

In other NLRB-related news, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments earlier this week as to whether the NLRB's current two-member panel constituted a "quorum" as defined by NLRA.  [For a good, humorous take on the case, go here.]

To stay current on union-related stories, be sure to go to LaborUnionReport.com. 

Breaking: No Recess Appointment for Craig Becker

According to the Huffington Post, President Obama will NOT be using a recess appointment to place SEIU's Craig Becker onto the National Labor Relations Board.

One of the more remarkable aspects of President Obama's decision to not make immediate recess appointments as a concession for Senate Republicans confirming 27 nominees is the muted reaction from the labor community.

Among those on the losing end of the deal struck between Obama and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are labor unions. Craig Becker, the president's nominee for the National Labor Relations Board who was filibustered by the Senate this past week, will not get the recess appointment next week that union officials were hoping. Instead, his nomination is either dead or put on hold until the next Senate recess at the end of March.

Read HuffPo's whole piece here.

How are union bosses reacting to the President's poke in their eye?  Well, as any union would, the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka is blaming the GOP.

Senate Republican obstructionists are working overtime to block the interests of working people. Today we hear the White House and Senate have cut a deal with Republicans that will keep President Obama's nominees off the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for even longer.

[snip]

Yesterday, in a deal with the Republican minority, the Senate confirmed 27 non-controversial Obama appointees. The White House apparently has agreed not to make Presidents Day recess appointments -- a process that allows the president to temporarily appoint his own nominee while Congress is out of session. That means NLRB nominees -- and working people -- are out in the cold.

It's surprising that a union negotiator like Mr. Trumka has forgotten that it usually takes two for a "deal" to become a "deal."

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Unions Threaten to Boycott Mid-Term Elections

Union bosses are really, really steamed.  In fact, they are throw-the-toys-across-the-room boiling mad.

What's the cause of their tantrum? 

Apparently, the Democrats they spent hundreds of millions of their members' dues dollars getting elected have let them down...again.

Now, the unions are threatening to take their ball and go home. 

According to Politico, union bosses are threatening to sit out (or boycott) the 2010 mid-term elections

Labor groups are furious with the Democrats they helped put in office — and are threatening to stay home this fall when Democratic incumbents will need their help fending off Republican challengers.

The Senate’s failure to confirm labor lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board was just the latest blow, but the frustrations have been building for months.

"Here's labor getting thrown under the bus again," said John Gage, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 600,000 workers. "It's really frustrating for labor, and a lot of union people are thinking: We put out big time in money and volunteers and support. And it seems like the little things that could have been aren't being done."

The 52-33 vote on Becker — who needed 60 to be confirmed — really set labor unions on edge, but the list of setbacks is growing.

The so-called “card check” bill that would make it easier to unionize employees has gone nowhere. A pro-union Transportation Security Administration nominee quit before he even got a confirmation vote. And even though unions got a sweetheart deal to keep their health plans tax-free under the Senate health care bill, that bill has collapsed, leaving unions exposed again.

Union leaders warn that the Democrats' lackluster performance in power is sapping the morale of activists going into the midterm elections.

"Right now if we don’t get positive changes to the agenda, we’re going to have a hard time getting members out to work," said United Steelworkers International President Leo W. Gerard, in an interview.

If, by boycotting the mid-term elections, their members' money won't be frivolously spent on politicians who care less for the American people than their big labor handlers, we say, go ahead!...

Take your ball and go home.

Please.
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"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes." Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

For more news and views on today's unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com

A Smoking Gun? Is the SEIU in Control of Senate Democrats' Agenda?

As the smoke clears on the bi-partisan blockage of SEIU-radical attorney Craig Becker to a seat on the "independent" National Labor Relations Board, an e-mail sent from a SEIU staffer to Senators on February 3rd is worthy of closer examination as it reveals just how much control the purple behemoth of a union has over the Democrats in Washington.

Last week's e-mail was sent from an SEIU "legislative consultant," Alison Reardon who, according to the SEIU's financial reports, spends 100% of her time on "political activities and lobbying." 

In other words, Ms. Reardon is a lobbyist representing a powerful special interest--the SEIU--in trying to get one of her colleagues confirmed on a federal agency that has jurisdiction over nearly every private-sector workplace in America.

What is surprising about the e-mail is the controlling tone she takes with the senators, as well as the information she divulges.  Or, rather, the source of her information, the Senate Majority Leader himself, Harry Reid.

From: Alison Reardon [mailto:alison.reardon@seiu.org]
Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 4:29 PM

Subject: HELP Ex Session 10:00 am 2/4

Senator,

Your attendance is crucial to appointing Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board(NLRB) Please attend Thursday's HELP Ex Session to report out President Obama's nomination of Craig Becker for Senate confirmation. This is the highest prionty for organized labor, and Majority Leader Reid will file Cloture on Friday 2/5, and has assured us that Senate will vote to end debate at 5 p m Monday 2/8.

Please contact me if you have any questions, and to confirm Senator's attendance on Thursday, at 10 00 a.m  [Emphasis added.]

Alison Reardon
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Legislative Consultant

202.330.1020 (c)

Again, this is a lobbyist who is lobbying to get a colleague seated as one of five members of a federal agency that has jurisdiction over nearly every private-sector workplace in America.

Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture?

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine December 23, 1776

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On NLRB Nominee Becker: Someone is NOT Telling the Truth In Washington!

As we scan through all of the posts, comments and critiques surrounding union bosses' President Obama's controversial nominee to the National Labor Relations Board, the SEIU's Craig Becker, we could not help but notice some BIG inconsistencies in the comments made by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and the AFL-CIO's mouthpiece Stewart Acuff.

The inconsistencies are over whether or not Craig Becker will can push to use his (possible) position on the NLRB to push for provisions contained in the all-but-dead Employee Free Choice Act.

On Tuesday, AFL-CIO front man Acuff blogged on Huffington Post that...

"It [sic]we aren't able to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, we will work with President Obama and Vice President Biden and their appointees to the National Labor Relations Board to change the rules governing forming a union through administrative action..." [Emphasis added.]

Yet today, Senator Harkin stated at Becker's hearing that...

“As you are all aware, I’m a supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act, and I hope to see it passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. But I don’t have any illusions that those important changes can somehow be accomplished administratively, and neither does Craig Becker.

“He has clearly and consistently explained, on numerous occasions, that all three major reforms proposed in EFCA—card check, binding arbitration for first contracts, and treble backpay for illegally fired workers—cannot be accomplished without a change in the statute. And as we all know, statutes can only be amended by those of us elected to Congress, not Executive Branch appointees."

So, either EFCA can be rammed down Americans' throats accomplished can be done through administrative action, or it cannot.

Which one is it?

Senator?

Mr. Acuff?

Someone's not telling the truth here.

Which one is going to step forward?
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"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes." Thomas Paine December 23, 1776

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