Obama Care: Partisanship perverts the NLRB

Partisanship perverts the NLRB - The Hill's Congress Blog @import "/plugins/content/jw_disqus/tmpl/css/template.css"; li.item435,li.item437,li.item439,li.item441,li.item443,li.item497,li.item499,li.item501,li.item503,li.item605,li.item689,li.item691,li.item693,li.item695,li.item697,li.item683,li.item685{display: none;} var _comscore = _comscore || []; _comscore.push({ c1: "2", c2: "10314615" }); (function() { var s = document.createElement("script"), el = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.async = true; s.src = (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js"; el.parentNode.insertBefore(s, el); })(); function getURLParameter(name) { return decodeURI( (RegExp(name + '=' + '(.+?)(&|$)').exec(location.search)||[,null])[1] );}(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1&appId=369058349794205"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); if (getURLParameter("set_fb_var") == '1') { jQuery.cookie('set_fb_var', 'true', { expires: 7, path: '/' }); return true; } if (!jQuery.cookie('set_fb_var') && d.referrer.match(/facebook.com/i)) { window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '340094652706297', status: true, xfbml: true, cookie: true, oauth: true }); }; }}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));if((navigator.userAgent.match(/iPhone/i)) || (navigator.userAgent.match(/iPod/i))) {document.write('

');}if(navigator.userAgent.match(/iPad/i)) {document.write('

');}if(navigator.userAgent.match(/Android/i)) {document.write('

');}

Follow @thehill!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");Advanced Search Options »

Home/NewsSenateHouseAdministrationCampaignPollsBusiness & LobbyingSunday Talk ShowsCampaign 2012Business & LobbyingK Street InsidersLobbying ContractsLobbying HiresLobbying RevenueOpinionColumnistsEditorialsLettersOp-EdWeyants WorldCapital LivingCover StoriesFood & DrinkNew Member of the Week20 QuestionsMy 5 Min. W/ObamaAnnouncementsMeet the LawmakerJobsVideoGossip: In The Know

Briefing RoomRegWatchHillicon ValleyE2-WireBallot BoxOn The MoneyHealthwatchTransportationDEFCON HillGlobal AffairsCongressFloor ActionGOP12In The KnowPunditsTwitter Room

HomeSenateHouseAdministrationCampaignPollsBusiness & LobbyingSunday Talk ShowsBlogsBriefing RoomRegWatchHillicon ValleyE2-WireBallot BoxOn The MoneyHealthwatchTransportationDEFCON HillGlobal AffairsCongressFloor ActionGOP12In The KnowPunditsTwitter RoomOpinionA.B. StoddardBrent BudowskyLanny DavisDavid HillCheri JacobusMark MellmanDick MorrisMarkos Moulitsas (Kos)Robin BronkEditorialsLettersOp-EdsJuan WilliamsJudd GreggChristian HeinzeKaren FinneyJohn FeeheryCapital LivingCover StoriesFood & DrinkAnnouncementsNew Member of the WeekMy 5 Min. W/ObamaAll Capital LivingVideoHillTubeEventsVideoClassifiedsJobsClassifiedsResourcesMobile SiteiPhoneAndroidiPadLawmaker RatingsWhite PapersOrder ReprintsLast 6 IssuesOutside LinksRSS FeedsContact UsAdvertiseReach UsSubmitting LettersSubmitting Op-edsSubscriptions

Partisanship perverts the NLRBBy Trey Kovacs, Competitive Enterprise Institute-01/17/13 12:15 PM ET Tweet !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

When former SEIU Associate General Counsel Craig Becker left his post at the National Labor Relations Board in December 2011, he quickly segued into a cushy job as the AFL-CIO’s co-general counsel. Likewise, a year later, former management lawyer Brian Hayes exited the board after his two-year term and immediately landed a plum position representing management with one of the nation’s prominent labor law firms.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. In 1935, Congress established the NLRB as a body made up solely of “three impartial Government members” to represent the public interest in labor disputes. An impartial NLRB was seen as crucial because of the contentious nature of labor relations in the United States.

But 78 years later, NLRB members on both sides of the labor-management debate use the post as a stepping-stone to bigger things. The damage, of course, is decisions made while on the board could well be altered by members’ desire to increase their marketability after their service.

The problem goes back to at least 1953, when President Eisenhower nominated management lawyer Guy Farmer and corporate industrial relations expert Albert Beeson to the board – the first NLRB members to come exclusively from the management side and adjudicate in their favor.

During a hearing before a Senate committee debating the Beeson nomination, James Carey, an official with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, said it would be impossible for him, a union leader for more than 20 years, to act impartially – and the same would go for a company lawyer. George Meany, president of the American Federation of Labor, said he worried this would give board members a “predisposition to the employer viewpoint.”

Today, the tables are turned, and it is Republicans who are complaining, and with good reason: All of the Obama administration appointees to the board came either from unions or union management (except for Sharon Block, who nevertheless sides with unions on every vote).

As a result, unsurprisingly, unions have benefited from a variety of Obama NLRB decisions. The board overturned longstanding legal precedent last month when it ruled a television station must continue to deduct union dues from the paychecks of workers who authorized such deductions even though the collective bargaining agreement those dues supported has expired. Hayes noted the union bias in the majority decision in his dissent:

"The bargaining process is better protected by preserving the settled rules with respect to both management rights and dues checkoff. It hardly advances collective bargaining to require that some portions of negotiated agreements — i.e., those favorable to the union — survive contract expiration, while others — those favorable to the employer — do not."

In January 2012, President Obama justified tossing aside the rule of law when he used recess appointments to fill vacancies on the board by saying, “the American people deserve to have qualified public servants fighting for them every day - whether it is to enforce new consumer protections or uphold the rights of working Americans.”

One of those “qualified public servants” was former union lawyer Richard Griffin. Maybe if President Obama wasn’t in such a rush to put Griffin on the board he would have discovered Griffin was named as a defendant in a federal racketeering case filed in October by several local union members, which accuses him of covering up the embezzlement of local union funds.

For decades, the NLRB has been transformed into the epitome of all that is wrong with Washington D.C.: A wasteful highly partisan agency that does more harm than good.

Why should the public pay $283 million in tax dollars for an agency harboring alleged criminals that inflames labor strife and confers benefit to a narrow, private interest?

We shouldn’t, the NLRB and its members are an arbitrary interference to expedient due process and the rule of law. Simply abolish the board then allow the 40 NLRB administrative law judges to continue hearing administrative cases and have the appropriate district court take appeals. These judges have some semblance of impartiality, serve long terms and are not as likely to seek future private-sector employment. Removing the redundant, partisan NLRB members will bring back some certainty to labor-management relations.

Kovacs is a labor policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Insttitute.

Tweet !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1&appId=369058349794205"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); View Comments Source:
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/labor/277767-partisanship-perverts-the-nlrbThe contents of this site are © 2013 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Congress Blog
Most Popular StoriesMost ViewedDon't wait for President Obama to act on immigration reformPreserving the Medicare Hospice BenefitA modest proposal: Bill fine-tunes nation's anti-trafficking toolsPresident's overreach on guns must be stoppedCongress must step in to resolve Puerto Rico's future statusEmailedPreserving the Medicare Hospice BenefitMeasuring support for Puerto Rico statehoodNLRB nominee should be judged on meritsForeign aid: A Beltway outsider perspectiveCongress must step in to resolve Puerto Rico's future statusDiscussedChristian Armenia and Islamic Iran: An unusual partnership explainedTime to settle Puerto Rico's statusForeign aid: A Beltway outsider perspectiveBlog Home »

Most Viewed RSS Feed » More Labor HeadlinesNLRB nominee should be judged on meritsOn the political football issue of immigration, the Republican Party must not squander their first and goal opportunityAnti-union Right’s alternate reality on NLRB election ruleMore Labor Headlines »

Labor News RSS feed »

Congress Blog Topics Campaign » Cardoza's Corner » Civil Rights » Economy & Budget » Education » Energy & Environment » Foreign Policy » Healthcare » Homeland Security » Judicial » Labor » Lawmaker News » Politics » Presidential Campaign » Religious Rights » Technology » The Administration »

Briefing RoomPoll: Hillary Clinton retires with 69 percent job approvalOn first lady's birthday, new poll shows strong supportIn op-ed, Obama urges lawmakers to ‘act soon’ against gun violence
More Briefing Room »Congress BlogThe Second Amendment is a fundamental rightDon't wait for President Obama to act on immigration reformPresident's overreach on guns must be stopped
More Congress Blog »Pundits BlogThe NRA is mentally unbalanced — no, just plain crazySoothing the liberal conscienceMemo to the NRA
More Pundits Blog »Twitter RoomTwitter has 100 percent participation by new SenateObama gathering online support for gun violence planFirst lady's office launches new Twitter account @FLOTUS
More Twitter Room »Hillicon ValleyAmb. Kramer: US eliminated '80 to 90 percent' of objectionable proposals for UN treatyHouse to investigate wasteful technology spendingDem lawmaker introduces bill to ban sales of violent video games to minors
More Hillicon Valley »E2-Wire (Energy)DOE names new Bonneville Power Administration chiefGOP governors, Canadian leader press Obama to approve Keystone pipelineGroups battle on Keystone XL pipeline
More E2-Wire (Energy) »Ballot BoxNRA fundraising email says Obama wants to 'reduce your freedom to ashes'NRCC chairman refuses to back Mark Sanford for HouseObama campaign urging supporters to back gun control push
More Ballot Box »On The MoneyRyan: House GOP discussing short-term hike to debt ceilingAudit: More work needed to keep refunds from prisonersHousing construction hits nearly five-year high in December
More On The Money »HealthwatchHELP panel to hold hearing on mental health Hospitals push White House to back change in healthcare lawHHS announces $1.5B for state exchanges
More Healthwatch »Floor ActionNY, Idaho lawmakers urge USDA to reclassify Greek yogurt as a proteinRep. Brady says Obama gave 'free pass' to Hollywood on gun violenceCoburn says he won’t filibuster gun bills, wants an open debate
More Floor Action »TransportationSpirit Airlines invokes Manti T’eo girlfriend controversyMediator: Dockworkers, East Coast ports making ‘progress’ in labor negotiationsDC Metro Silver Line extension 87 percent complete
More Transportation »DEFCON HillInhofe, Panetta trade shots over gridlock on sequestration cutsReport: US drones deployed to Algeria to monitor hostage crisis Panetta backs weapons ban, says only military needs 'armor-piercing bullets'
More DEFCON Hill »Global AffairsAlgerian hostage drama ends with air strike, unknown casualtiesObama administration warns of Mali violence spillover across western AfricaPuerto Rican Alliance VP José L. Arbona: Congress must step in to resolve Puerto Rico's future status
More Global Affairs »In The KnowRove signs multi-year deal to stay with FoxShe bangs — new hairdo for Michelle Obama?Manti Te'o saga reached House floor
More In The Know »RegWatchMine safety rule prompted by deadly explosion faces industry blowbackTreasury battles another Mexican drug cartelPeter King calls Obama’s executive directives on gun violence 'hype'
More RegWatch »

Blogs News Feed

Congress Blog RollCapital GamesDaily KosDCCCDNCDrudge ReportDSCCJudicial WatchNRCCNRSCPolitical AnimalRNCThe ChamberPostThe CornerThe Huffington PostThe NoteThe Plank

COLUMNISTSLanny Davis