National Labor Relations Board Archives - The Pennsylvania Daily Star

House Report Finds Widespread Misconduct in Union Votes by Biden Labor Board

May 12, 2024 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) expansion of mail ballot elections has led to widespread mismanagement, misconduct and procedural irregularities by the agency, according to a report released Thursday by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

The NLRB issued a decision in November 2020 expanding regional agency directors’ ability to order that union elections operate by mail rather than the traditional manual ballot due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the decision, voter turnout has decreased while both institutional issues, like employees interfering in elections, and integrity issues, like inappropriate voter solicitation and the number of lost or void ballots, have increased, according to the report.

Labor Board’s Pro-Union Ruling Could Have Devastating Consequences for Free Speech

May 9, 2024 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

A judge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last week ruled in favor of a case that has serious implications for free speech by employers when talking about unions, legal experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Judge Brian Gee found that the NLRB was correct in its assertion that certain comments made in interviews in 2022 by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy violated federal labor law amid a national unionization campaign at the company. Jassy’s comments were about how union members would be “better off” without a union because there would be less red tape between employees and management, and came as the Biden administration has pushed to promote unionization. However, the judge’s decision could significantly chill free speech.

Commentary: The Federal Government is Deciding Who Can Start a Small Business

March 8, 2024March 7, 2024 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

Just when it seemed impossible for things to get tougher for small businesses, the federal government decided to make things worse.

Small businesses have had a tough run for the last few years. Record inflation, high interest rates, and workforce shortages have led to widespread pessimism among small businesses. The last thing they need is more government interference, but that is exactly what is happening.

Pennsylvania House Committee Passes Forced-Unionism Amendment

May 2, 2023May 1, 2023 Bradley Vasoli

A bill to enshrine union coercion in the Pennsylvania Constitution passed the state House Labor and Industry Committee 12-9 on Monday.

The measure, identical to an Illinois constitutional amendment that Prairie State voters narrowly ratified last autumn, would prevent adoption of a “right-to-work” law saying nonunion workers can’t be forced to pay union dues. More broadly, the amendment would counteract statutes that check the power of labor organizations and, opponents fear, give public-sector union contracts primacy over state law.

Claiming ‘Democracy Under Attack,’ Biden Administration Looks to Make It Harder to Oust Unions

November 7, 2022November 6, 2022 The Center Square

The day after President Joe Biden claimed “American democracy is under attack,” his administration took action to make it more difficult for employees to vote on whether or not they want to join a union.

At a Democrat Party campaign event on Wednesday, Biden said democracy is under attack by the “MAGA Republican Party,” referring to those who support former President Donald Trump.

Commentary: Biden National Labor Relations Board Counsel Rewrites Labor Law History

July 19, 2022July 18, 2022 RealClearWire

Very soon after being confirmed in a razor-tight U.S. Senate vote last year as general counsel for the powerful National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Jennifer Abruzzo, formerly a lawyer for the radical Communications Workers of America union, made her agenda plain to all.

Clearly acting on the wishes of the man who nominated her for the job of NLRB general counsel, Big Labor President Joe Biden, Abruzzo broadcast her intention to wield the power of her office to help union officials grab monopoly-bargaining power over millions of additional workers.

Amazon Prepares to Go on the Offensive Against Newly Unionized Employees

April 11, 2022April 10, 2022 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

Amazon plans to go on the offensive against the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) following its successful bid to unionize Amazon workers on April 1 in New York City, according to legal documents filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Amazon intends to appeal the Amazon Labor Union’s victory in a 55% majority vote at a Staten Island, New York City warehouse to unionize the facility’s workers. The company argues that labor groups influenced the outcome of the vote.

Amazon Workers Will Redo Union Vote After First Election Ruled Illegal

January 13, 2022January 12, 2022 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

Amazon employees in Bessemer, Alabama, are set to hold a second union vote after the first election was deemed illegal, a federal labor agency said Tuesday.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that workers at the Bessemer warehouse would vote again on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) on Feb. 4. The second vote comes almost a year after the first election in which Amazon employees overwhelmingly rejected the proposal to join the RWDSU.

Following the unsuccessful unionization bid, labor organizers demanded a new vote, alleging that Amazon improperly placed the election ballot box on company property, which the union argued was a form of intimidation. The union also alleged that Amazon threatened warehouse workers with messages saying the facility might close or they might lose benefits if the union vote succeeded.

Labor Board Orders New Union Election at Amazon Warehouse

December 1, 2021November 30, 2021 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordered a new unionization election at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama, ruling that the company violated federal labor law during the first election.

“Today’s decision confirms what we were saying all along – that Amazon’s intimidation and interference prevented workers from having a fair say in whether they wanted a union in their workplace – and as the Regional Director has indicated, that is both unacceptable and illegal,” Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) President Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement Monday.

“Amazon workers deserve to have a voice at work, which can only come from a union,” he continued.