The federal agency charged with protecting employees’ rights to collectively improve their job standards is in limbo. That’s great news for unscrupulous employers who want to take advantage of workers, but it serves as a wake-up call for those of us who care about workers’ rights.
In January 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the Obama Administration’s January 2012 recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were unconstitutional – a ruling at odds with other circuit court decisions. This ruling has created legal havoc. Employers are now filing appeals to decisions issued at all levels of the agency, charging that since the Board members are invalid, the decisions should be vacated. As a result, the NLRB is now hamstrung in its effort to enforce the National Labor Relations Act, the law that is supposed to protect workers’ rights to organize, collectively bargain, and engage in collective actions. This leaves America’s workers without any effective legal protections provided under law – and no one policing the workplace.
America’s workers deserve much more than the status quo to fully protect their rights on the job. Yet they do not deserve to have their basic workplace rights invalidated due to Congressional inaction.
Click here to view our new fact sheet that explains in detail how Senate obstructionism and judicial overreach led to this crisis and more about why workers’ rights are in the crosshairs without a functioning National Labor Relations Board.
