Labor Unions Struggle to Survive Under Obama

Labor leadership is pushing to fill the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) before it’s pushed aside for the rest of Obama’s second term. 

According to The Hill, “unions of all stripes have told Senate democrats they need to move on all five of Obama’s nominees to the board, even if it takes a controversial change to filibuster rules to make it happen.”

Larry Cohen of the Communications Workers of America said that without the NLRB, there is no way to protect workers. And he said workers are in a bad spot right now. He said they’ve hit the “floor, and now the floor is caving in as well.”

Yet business groups are not eager to see the NLRB filled. They say “the NLRB has shown favoritism to unions during the Obama administration,” and as a result has faced a backlash from courts and the Congress.

Just last week a federal appeals court ruled against “an NLRB rule that would have required employers to post notices about union rights in the workplace.”

Senate action is required by August to keep the NLRB full.