Senator Capito and Senator Manchin | File photos
CHARLESTON – The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce is calling on U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin to oppose the renomination of Lauren McFerran for another term on the National Labor Relations Board.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also sent a letter to all U.S. senators asking them to reject McFerran’s renomination.
McFerran was nominated for the position by President Joe Biden, and outgoing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to schedule a vote on her nomination before the newly elected Republican majority takes office in January. The vote could take place as early as December 11.
McFerran | File photo
“There are many issues with Senator Schumer’s late move to push through this nomination at the last minute,” said West Virginia House Speaker Steve Roberts. “In November, the American people made their voices clear and decisive in their desire to change the direction of our country.
“It is worth noting that the election resulted in a change in majority control of the United States Senate.”
During McFerran’s tenure as NLRB chairwoman, the board witnessed a number of controversies, including decisions on the definition of an independent contractor, allowing workplace conduct that disregarded civil rights laws, limiting employers’ speech rights, and undermining secret ballot elections.
“Senator Schumer has had ample time to act on this nomination,” Roberts said. “To act in this way in the final weeks of the Biden administration and the Democratic majority in the Senate clearly disregards the will of the American people.
“We therefore urge our two senators, Senator Capito and Senator Manchin, to reject this nomination.”
Capito is a Republican and Manchin is currently an independent but still caucuses with Democrats. Manchin voted against Democrat Gwynne Wilcox for a second five-year term last year, but he says he is still undecided on McFerran.
Majority Whip Dick Durbin (R-Ill.) said he wasn’t sure the caucus would vote unanimously for McFerran.
In its letter to all senators, the U.S. House also noted a “scathing report” by the NLRB Inspector General in July 2023 on how the board conducted the mail-in election, stating that such conduct “could have a significant adverse impact on the NLRB in carrying out its statutory mandate.” mission.” The board failed to take constructive action to correct these deficiencies, even after the IG noted that NLRB officials lacked “sincerity” during the investigation.
The U.S. Chamber also found that numerous federal courts have reprimanded the NLRB and overturned a number of its decisions, including: earlier this year when the District Court invalidated the Council’s joint rulemaking on employers. The NLRB recently abandoned its attempt to appeal this ruling.
The U.S. House also found that the NLRB “continued to make sweeping changes to labor law” under McFerran, including reinterpreting more than 80 years of settled labor law in a way that could force workers to unionize without voting rights.
“It also violated the free speech rights of both employers and individuals and prevented employers from maintaining workplaces free from harassment,” the U.S. Chamber’s letter noted. (EDITOR’S NOTE: owned by the American Chamber’s Legal Reform Institute West Virginia record.)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Biden’s NLRB “has worked overtime to pollute employer-employee relationships across the country with unclear new standards, pervert longstanding free speech principles, and wage an all-out war on franchisor small businesses.” “
“The member of the NLRB with primary responsibility for advancing the Biden-Big Labor agenda is its chair, Lauren McFerran,” McConnell said Tuesday. – And she will be approved for another term.
“If the board’s public actions over the past four years are not telling enough, I urge our colleagues to consider the gross mismanagement under Ms. McFerran that the independent Inspector General’s report revealed – stern violations of election procedures and shield-testing attempts to run.
“This does not mean that its approval would give the lame-duck President control of the independent board for the entire term of his successor!
“In this case, there are many reasons not to reward bad behavior. And regardless of what our colleagues choose, I hope they will join me tomorrow in opposing McFerran’s nomination.”
