Wilma B. Liebman wound up her 14-year tenure on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on August 27, leaving an agency that’s supposed to have five members with just three.
In addition to Liebman’s departure, member Craig Becker’s term ends December 31. Those developments leave many questioning whether the NLRB will be left crippled in a political environment not conducive to replenishing the membership.
Current NLRB member Mark G. Pearce was named chairman upon Liebman’s departure. He has served on the Board since 2010 and was confirmed by the Senate to a term that ends on August 27, 2013.
The third member of the NLRB is Brian Hayes. The Senate confirmed him on June 22, 2010, to a term that ends on December 16, 2012.
Two nominations to the NLRB are pending before the Senate — one for Terence F. Flynn to fill a vacant seat and one to confirm Becker, who is serving on a recess appointment. Both the Becker and Flynn nominations seem stalled. No one has been nominated for the other vacant seat.
With Liebman off the NLRB and Becker slated to leave at the end of the year, the agency may be left with just two members. In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a previous two-member Board lacked the authority to issue rulings. So the prospect of another two-member Board leaves many wondering what will happen before the end of the year.
Fred Wszolek, spokesman for the Workforce Fairness Institute, said in an August 27 statement that current NLRB members “are undoubtedly busy today finalizing decisions for issuance that will continue to undermine worker rights, hurt small businesses, augment the power of union bosses and cost our nation jobs.”
Some NLRB opponents are calling for Republican member Hayes to resign so the Board won’t be able to act. An “Open Letter to GOP NLRB Member Brian Hayes” posted on LaborUnionReport.com says, “If you resign your position, the NLRB will become incapacitated — unable to wreak any more havoc on America’s job creators.”
Liebman’s departure comes at the end of three terms. She was first appointed by President Bill Clinton and was confirmed by the Senate in 1997. She was reappointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 and 2006 and was named chairman by President Barack Obama on January 21, 2009. She is the third-longest serving member in the Board’s 76-year history. Before serving on the NLRB, she served as deputy director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and as counsel to two international labor organizations.
Despite criticism from some business groups, Liebman’s tenure won praise in other circles. “She worked hard during a time of widespread political divisiveness to ensure that our labor laws work for today’s working families,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said. “Her professionalism, integrity, intelligence and leadership have earned her well-deserved praise from labor and management alike, as well as from her colleagues on the Board.”