Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis’s comment at the AFL-CIO annual meeting on March 3rd confirms speculations that, with or without the resolution of health care legislation, President Obama will announce the appointment of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board when Congress breaks for its two-week Easter recess, beginning March 29.
While this “recess appointment” effectively could preclude Becker from serving the normal five-year term were he confirmed by Congress, he would serve about 18 months, enough time to have a profound impact on our nation’s labor law.
Some say the President also will take the opportunity to appoint Mark Pearce, a union-side labor lawyer previously nominated (and had been expected to win confirmation) and another as yet unnamed person in place of the previous nominee to fill the currently vacant “Republican seat” on the Board.
In addition to fulfilling the President’s need to respond to the interests of his supporters in organized labor, these appointments will allow the Board to initiate and achieve substantive rulemaking before Becker leaves.