Senator Orrin Hatch’s (R-Utah) opening remarks on the first day of Senate HELP Committee hearings on the nomination of Craig Becker to the NLRB, available here, contained a salvo of questions probing the nominee’s controversial positions on key labor relations law issues, such as his view that employers should have no right express

Immediate action called for by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in connection with the Becker nomination to the NLRB. See Chamber’s release below.  Additional information about the possible impact of this appointment will be found in several recent Jackson Lewis EFCA and Labor Law Reform blog. If you would like to discuss the significance

The Senate HELP Committee will hold a hearing on the Craig Becker nomination to the NLRB on February 2 at 4:00 p.m. (http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2010_02_02/2010_02_02.html).  The Committee will then consider him and we expect Becker’s nomination will be approved and likely referred to the full Senate for confirmation.  Senate Democrats may try to rush Becker’s confirmation vote

National Labor Relations Board Chair Liebman wrote in a March 2008 Journal of Labor and Society:

“The existence of a strong independent trade union movement is critical to a democratic society. Similarly, the system of collective bargaining … affords an effective mechanism to distribute resources and as such, it furthers a collective national sense of

As reported here, the Senate late last year unanimously refused to carry over Mr. Becker’s nomination for consideration in the next Session of Congress. The nomination was thus returned to President Obama.  Now, according to the New York Times, President Obama has decided to renominate Craig Becker as a member of the National Labor Relations

Craig Becker’s NLRB nomination may not have been thrown under the bus, but it certainly seems to have been thrown off of it. 

Just prior to adjournment on December 24, the Senate unanimously refused to carry over Mr. Becker’s nomination for consideration in the next Session of Congress.  It was returned to the President.  As

By a vote of 15-8, mainly along party lines, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (“HELP”) earlier today approved the Administration’s nomination of Craig Becker to the Labor Board. The other two nominees (Mark Pearce and Brian Hayes) received unanimous votes. The Committee’s action makes it more likely all three nominations will reach

As previously reported in this space, employer groups have been asking the Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (“HELP”) to schedule public hearings on the Administration’s nomination of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board.  So far, the requests have not been answered.  The HELP Committee is slated to take up

Senate Committee Avoids Public Hearing, Despite Call from Employer Groups

Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (“HELP”) announced it had scheduled a meeting for October 21 to consider without a hearing the Administration’s three nominees to the NLRB.  The HELP Committee’s action occurred despite pleas by the U.S. Chamber of

President Obama sent his nominations for the three empty seats on the NLRB to the Senate on July 9, 2009. One of the three, Craig Becker, is currently the Associate General Counsel for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Although Mr. Becker has much labor law experience, he has some extreme ideas for reforming labor