Reply #6: Here's why they're in such a PANIC over Becker's appointment [View All]

[Earth Bound Misfit]

From the NLRA: http://www.nlrb.gov/about_us/overview/national_labor_relations_act.aspx

Sec. 6. <§ 156. Rules and regulations> The Board shall have authority from time to time to make, amend, and rescind, in the manner prescribed by the Administrative Procedure Act (by subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5), such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act .

The Administrative Procedure Act: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/laws/administrative-procedure/551.html

Administrative Procedure Act
•UNITED STATES CODE
◦TITLE 5 - GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
■PART I - THE AGENCIES GENERALLY
■CHAPTER 5 - ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE
■SUBCHAPTER II - ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE


§ 551. Definitions
For the purpose of this subchapter -

(1) ''agency'' means each authority of the Government of the United States, whether or not it is within or subject to review by another agency, but does not include -

(A) the Congress;
(B) the courts of the United States;
(C) the governments of the territories or possessions of the United States;
(D) the government of the District of Columbia;

NLRB Decisions Could Make Card Check a Reality
http://www.workforce.com/section/03/feature/26/52/97/265299.html

If the card-check provision of the Employee Free Choice Act fails to survive legislative negotiations, it may not necessarily die.

There is a possibility that the National Labor Relations Board could rule, if the right case comes along, that a company must recognize a union formed through the card-check process. Card check, also known as majority sign-up, means that a company recognizes a union if a majority of employees sign cards authorizing a bargaining unit.

snip

In 1947, the National Labor Relations Act was amended so that the NLRB had to resolve representation disputes through a secret-ballot election. In 1974, the Supreme Court ruled that an employer does not have to recognize a union even if a majority of workers have signed authorization cards. Instead, it could insist on a secret-ballot election.

But in making its ruling, the Supreme Court relied on the expertise of the NLRB in reading the labor statute, according to William Gould, a professor of law at Stanford University who was NLRB chairman from 1994 to 1998.

Gould says that the board frequently reverses itself in its interpretation of labor laws. A new NLRB could take a fresh look at card check and decide that is an acceptable way to create a union.

“The board could develop new expertise based on new evidence and new facts and come to a different conclusion,” Gould says. “In my judgment, yes, the board could issue such a ruling.”

snip

It’s difficult to predict whether the new NLRB will address card check. But experts agree that the board will revisit decisions made during the Bush administration.

One previous board ruling held that employees could file a decertification petition within 45 days of voluntary recognition of a union.

“That case will clearly be overturned by the Obama board,” says Charles Craver, a professor of law at George Washington University.

The C of C's:puke: letter to Kennedy (RIP) & Enzi :puke:
http://www.uschamber.com/NR/rdonlyres/ettxevxhnekd3wkr3cqekv7c6frknxbzziu52m3jmw74itsnlttljywtuk4qflagvhz2ij4l2mh3fsozgka3xz44dzc/090724_becker.pdf