A post on our colleagues' Management Memo blog will be of interest to hospitality employers: "The Senate Has Confirmed a 'Full' 5 Member NLRB That Includes 3 Union Lawyers – Are You Ready?" by Adam C. Abrahms and Steven M. Swirsky of Epstein Becker Green.
Following is an excerpt:
On July 30th the Senate confirmed career union lawyer Kent Hirozawa (D) and retired AFL-CIO Associate General Counsel Nancy Schiffer (D) as well as seasoned management labor lawyers Philip Miscimarra (R) and Harry Johnson (R) to serve on the National Labor Relations Board. The Senate also confirmed current NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce (D).
The confirmations are of course the result of the Senate Republicans backing down in the face of the threat by Senate Democrats to change Senate rules so that they could force a vote, up or down, on President Obama’s nominations for the Board and other positions. The “deal”, inspired by the threat, included the withdrawal of President Obama’s nomination of his recess appointees, Sharon Block and Richard Griffin , whose appointments were held unconstitutional recess. The President, however, merely replaced Block and Griffin with Hirozawa and Miscimarra, and only after consultation with and approval from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Organized Labor.
So with the first fully confirmed five member Board in ten years, the question for employers is now what? Unfortunately the answer is it is probably going to get worse.