Senators Orrin Hatch, Mike Enzi and Johnny Isakson stood up to the pro-Union Boss National Labor Relations Board today, questioning their reasoning in the Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center of Mobile case that would allow small-employee groups to form “mini unions” to engage in collective bargaining with employers. This latest bailout would open the floodgates to Big Labor and allow them to target even more workers with coercion and intimidation.
Senator Hatch:
“If the President is serious about creating jobs and helping businesses prosper, the NLRB hasn’t gotten the memo,” said Hatch. “It’s no secret that the Obama administration and its union allies are frustrated because their labor agenda hasn’t budged in Congress, mostly because they have been unable to convince the American people that the law should stack the deck in favor of the unions. So rather than dealing with the legislative process, the Administration has used the NLRB to enact policies that no elected branch of government would even consider. We’re seeing this again now with the NLRB’s efforts to allow “mini-unions” in workplaces where the majority of employees don’t want union representation. Unless this trend is reversed, businesses and job creators will continue to suffer.”
Senator Enzi:
“Over the past year, the NLRB has become more and more aggressive in seeking to overturn its own precedent, as well as instituting new rules and standards that are straight from organized labor’s ‘wish list,’ ” said Enzi. “Their latest move is to force multiple micro-bargaining units on employers of all industries and sizes in order to increase the odds of unionization. The underlying case does not support such a result, the law itself prohibits it, the process chosen by the NLRB to accomplish it is inappropriate and the outcome would be extremely detrimental to our economic recovery. While the NLRB is intended to be independent, that does not require it to be out of touch. After the worst period of high unemployment since the Great Depression, what Americans want is job creation – what NLRB is proposing instead is a balkanized workplace of competing unions and increased workplace strife. It’s time Congress started to rein in these independent boards that are driven by special interests.”
Senator Isakson:
Said Isakson, “On January 18, 2011, President Obama wrote, ‘I am directing federal agencies to do more to account for—and reduce—the burdens regulations may place on small businesses. Small firms drive growth and create most new jobs in this country. We need to make sure nothing stands in their way.’ This unprecedented action by the unelected members of the National Labor Relations Board reveals the President’s words to be little more than empty rhetoric. Through the fostering and enabling of ‘mini-unions’ at workplaces nationwide, this Administration continues its attack on American employers.”
To access the letter, click here.