Obama Decision For Labor Board Blocked as Business Groups Lobby
The Senate voted 52-33, eight votes short of the 60 required, to end debate and act on the nomination of Becker, who has been awaiting confirmation for more than six months. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers attacked Beckers academic writings on giving labor unions more power and sent letters to senators urging them to block the appointment.
The nomination of Becker, a Chicago-based associate general counsel for the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO labor federation, may be dead unless Obama uses a procedure known as a recess appointment to place him on the labor board without Senate approval.
“Beckers previous statements strongly indicate that he would take an aggressive personal agenda to the NLRB, and that he would pursue a personal agenda there,” Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, one of two Democrats to vote against moving the nomination forward, said in a statement before the vote. “This is of great concern, considering that the boards main responsibility is to resolve labor disputes with an even and impartial hand.”
Senator Browns Vote
Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts, whose election last month to fill the seat held by the late Edward M. Kennedy ended the Democratic partys supermajority control of the Senate, sided with his party in blocking the nomination.
“Craig Beckers theories about how the workplace should function, if ever put into practice, would impose new burdens on employers, hurt job creation and slow down the recovery,” Brown said in an e-mailed statement after the vote.
Brown was elected by a majority of union members in his state, according to an AFL-CIO poll, and he had said last week after being sworn in that he hadnt made a decision on Becker.
Obama told reporters during a press conference at the White House before the vote that he would consider using his executive powers to make recess appointments over the Senate break next week if they dont act on his nominees. Obama didnt say whether Becker would be one of the nominees considered.
Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, the nations largest union organization, urged Obama in an e-mailed statement to use that approach “if thats what it takes to get around minority delay and obstruction.”
A White House spokesman, Tommy Vietor, declined to comment on Becker.
Beckers views have been an issue for business groups because he has the potential to shape labor laws through rulings on the National Labor Relations board, created in 1935 to mediate disputes between companies and employees and certify union elections.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nations largest business-lobbying group, labeled Beckers view as “outside the mainstream” and told senators in a letter that supporting him may be held against them by companies during election campaigns.
The business groups, joined by Republicans including Senator John McCain of Arizona, argued that Becker would try to change labor law to make it easier for workers to form a union. They also objected to his background working directly for the nations largest labor organizations, which spent millions of dollars in 2008 to help elect Obama to the White House and other Democrats to Congress.
Becker would “undermine the board and show cynicism in the labor management community,” McCain said during debate before the vote. Becker is “the first person nominated” for the board “who comes directly from a labor organization.”
The two Democrats who joined Republicans in blocking Obamas confirmation were Nelson and Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, who faces re-election in November.
MGM Mirage Case
The five-member National Labor Relations Board has had three vacancies for more than two years, and has almost 200 cases pending, including one involving MGM Mirages New York-New York casino. The MGM Mirage case, which may affect hotels, shopping centers and casinos, would decide whether workers are allowed to distribute union literature at the entrance to a business.
Becker wrote a 1993 Minnesota Law Review article saying that union-election rules should be rewritten in favor of labor, and that the NLRB can do this through regulation, without the consent of Congress.