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Obama Nominates New NLRB Members

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday announced three additional nominees for membership on the National Labor Relations Board, including the board’s current chairman, Mark Gaston Pearce.


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The nominations come amid uncertainty over the board’s authority following a court decision earlier this year that invalidated so-called “recess” nominations of current NLRB members Sharon Block and Richard Griffin. The president earlier this year asked Congress to confirm those appointments, while some Republicans were at work on legislation that would invalidate actions the board had taken since Block and Griffin were appointed last year.

The new nominees, Harry Johnson and Philip Miscimarra, are both Republican employment lawyers.

“With these nominations there will be five nominees to the NLRB, both Republicans and Democrats, awaiting Senate confirmation. I urge the Senate to confirm them swiftly so that this bipartisan board can continue its important work on behalf of the American people,” the White House said.

Read more: Court Rules NLRB Appointments Unconstitutional

Joe Hansen, UFCW, United Food & Commerical Workers, NLRB
Joe Hansen

The Retail Industry Leaders Association in a statement said it had “serious concerns” about some of the five appointees. “Until the serious constitutional questions surrounding the current board members are resolved and its members are appropriately appointed, we continue to encourage the board to not decide any new cases or take any actions requiring a quorum,” Bill Hughes, senior vice president of RILA, said in a statement.

The United Food and Commercial Workers said Republican opposition to Obama’s appointees had “made a mockery” of the confirmation process. “It is time for Republicans to put ideology aside, do their job, and allow for prompt consideration. America’s workers deserve nothing less,” Joe Hansen, UFCW International president, said in a statement.

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