House Committee Debates NLRB’s Fairness and Transparency

In the aftermath of President Donald Trump removing National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Member Gwynne Wilcox, the agency is effectively hamstrung, unable to adjudicate cases without a quorum. The situation has sparked debate in Congress concerning the NLRB’s promotion of fairness and transparency, and more broadly, on the state of unions and collective bargaining practices in the U.S.  

During a hearing June 11, Rep. Rick Allen, R-Ga., chairman of the House Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee, said, “It is time for the Board to champion the right of employees to pick the union, not of the union to pick the employees.” Allen also expressed concerns about union elections and called for the NLRB “to refocus on resolving workplace conflicts instead of punishing business owners.”

“Employee Free Choice” in Organizing and Voting

The first topic discussed was worker choice in electing union representation. “The National Labor Relations Act [NLRA] is fundamentally about employee free choice,” said Aaron Solem, an attorney for the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Employees have the right to choose union representation or to reject it, Solem said, and the NLRB is duty-bound to remain neutral with regard to that decision.  

“But over the past four years, the Biden NLRB has severely tilted the playing field in favor of union officials,” Solem said, which in his view invalidated the opinions of workers who opposed unionization. To ensure fairness, Solem said, the NLRB “agenda should be centered on employee democracy and protecting employees’ right not to fund union politics.”

Also at issue was how workers vote for or against unionization. When workers select a union, said Vincent Vernuccio, president of the Institute for the American Worker, they should be allowed to make that choice “securely and privately” and “without intimidation or coercion.” He cited the “true language” of the NLRA that says a “union must be chosen by the majority of all the employees in a unit.” Vernuccio advocated for the use of secret-ballot elections in place of card check, an organizing method in which a union gathers worker signatures.

Q&A: The Function of the NLRA

Solem agreed with this recommendation. There is no secrecy in a card check, he said, and an employee can be pressured “time and time again to sign.”

Later in the hearing, Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., sought to clarify whether unions allowed for secret-ballot elections in place of card check. Jennifer A. Abruzzo, senior advisor to the president of the Communications Workers of America and former general counsel for the NLRB during the Biden administration, affirmed that secret-ballot elections were indeed permitted, and “oftentimes unions will file a petition to have a board-conducted election.”

NLRB Supporters Urge More Funding

Rep. John Mannion, D-N.Y., expressed frustration that the NLRB remains without a quorum, leaving cases undecided. “Workers with valid complaints are waiting months, many times over a year, for action,” he said. “These aren’t just delays, they are denial of these workers’ rights, and when we pair that with the proposed budget cuts to the NLRB, it’s clear that we are headed in the wrong direction.” 

When asked what is needed to ensure the NLRB operates effectively and fairly, Abruzzo said that “first of all, you need to bring Board Member Wilcox back and have a quorum.” She described Wilcox as an experienced labor lawyer whose expertise would help prevent “continued violations of the law.” Without a quorum, the board remains unable to make any decisions in cases. “That means workers who are fired can’t return to work, cannot get the back pay they are owed,” Abruzzo explained. She went on to describe employers taking advantage of the NLRB’s status, turning away from settlements in favor of “litigating and letting it sit at the board where a decision can’t be made.”

According to Abruzzo, without the NLRB’s independent decision-making, the power imbalance between workers and corporations will just get even more skewed. “For me, restoring balance and ensuring fairness and transparency means that the NLRB must hold true to the policy of the United States to encourage collective bargaining by protecting workers’ full freedom of association,” she said in her written testimony.  

Abruzzo also underscored her concern about the Trump administration’s attitude toward the NLRB. “The significant decrease in staffing, particularly in the field offices where the vast majority of the NLRB’s service to the public is done, is detrimentally affecting many in this country,” she said. In her opinion, for the NLRB to operate at full efficacy, it would require a budget increase of at least $100 million.