Ranking Member Cassidy, Blackburn, Colleagues Introduce Bill to End Weaponization of National Labor Relations Board

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN), and Tim Scott (R-SC) introduced the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Reform Act, which would amend the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to prevent the NLRB from weaponizing its enforcement power to target employers and implement policies favored by labor unions. This comes after reports of NLRB officials coordinating with Starbucks Workers United (SWU) to tip representation elections in favor of SWU, which has allegedly used its position to threaten, intimidate, and coerce employees who resisted unionization.

The NLRB is required by the NLRA to act as a neutral party in labor disputes between employees and employers, not in favor of one party over the other. This was confirmed by the Supreme Court in First Nat'l Maintenance Corp. v. NLRB.

“The National Labor Relations Board is required by law to provide an unbiased framework to review disputes between employees and employers. However, this is not what we are seeing under the Biden administration,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This bill will stop the NLRB from weaponizing its power to target employers on behalf of unions.”

“Over the last two years, the National Labor Relations Board has wrongfully become a political arm for the Biden administration’s labor union interests,” said Senator Blackburn. “The pattern of biased weaponization against job creators must stop. This legislation ensures that the NLRB will act as an impartial federal agency for all employers and employees, not just unions.”

“Under the Biden administration, the National Labor Relations Board has chosen to engage in partisan advocacy, rather than doing its job. I have continuously held the NLRB to account in the past two years for their failures to protect American workers and employers, so I am glad to support this bill to return the agency to its intended purpose,” said Senator Braun.

“For far too long, the NLRB has caved to the political whims of big labor unions at the expense of hardworking Americans and their families. This important legislation will bring fairness, balance, and bipartisanship to the NLRB, ensuring that workers are protected,” said Senator Scott.

During a HELP Committee hearing on labor relations, Cassidy sounded the alarm on the weaponization of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against employers, citing reported misconduct by NLRB officials, including providing duplicate ballots in union elections, supplying union organizers with confidential voter information, and providing voter accommodations to employees selected by the union without offering them to all employees.

Specifically, the NLRB Reform Act would:

1. End the partisanship at the NLRB by:
1. Increasing the number of Board members from five to six and requiring an even split among Republicans and Democrats sitting on the Board;
2. Imposing new term appointments for Board members that ensure that one Republican seat and one Democrat seat each expire every two-years; and
3. Requiring four Board members to approve all decisions, which ensures bipartisanship.
2. Restrain the NLRB’s General Counsel (GC) by:
1. Granting parties 30 days to seek review of the GC’s complaints in federal district court; and
2. Providing for new discovery rights for involved parties, allowing access to memoranda and other documents relevant to the complaint within 10 days.
3. Encourage quick resolution of cases before the Board by:
1. Allowing parties to appeal to a federal Court of Appeals if the Board fails to reach a decision in the case within one year.

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