NLRB Appointments

By Paul Cherner

President Obama has announced his intention to nominate two union attorneys to be Board members of the NLRB.  They are Craig Becker and Mark G. Pearce.

Becker has been Associate General Counsel for the Service Employees International Union for 17 years and holds the same job at the AFL-CIO.  He has practiced and taught labor law for 27 years.

Pearce practices labor law at a law firm in Buffalo, NY that represents unions and individual employees.  He previously taught labor law and began his career at the NLRB.

The NLRB has a total of five Board Members.  Traditionally, the President appoints 3 Members from his party to the staggered terms of the NLRB and designates one of ‘em to be Chairman.  The 2 other Board Members are traditionally from the opposition party.  At the present time, there are 2 Board Members serving on the NLRB who were appointed during the prior administration- Chairman Liebman (D) and Member Schaumber (R).   If these 2 new appointments by President Obama are confirmed by the Senate,  there will be a Democratic majority for the first time in many years.

Paul Cherner is a labor and employment lawyer in Chicago, IL. Visit his blog at http://hrcounselblog.com.