President Trump has nominated two new Republican members to serve on the National Labor Relations Board.
Assuming they are confirmed by the Senate, that would create a new Republican majority on the board, which was dominated by pro-union Democrats during the Obama administration.
Trump named Marvin E. Kaplan, who currently is chief counsel to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent agency that hears appeals of citations originating from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
He was previously a GOP staffer for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and House Education and the Workforce Committee.
The other nominee, William J. Emanuel, a labor relations attorney with the firm of Littler Mendelson, has represented employers and industry associations before the board and in state courts.
Board Chairman Philip A. Miscimarra recently said that after the Senate approves two more Republican members, the new majority would seek to reverse the NLRB micro-unit decision. (AA, 6-15-17, P. 2)
Employer groups applauded the nominations. “Over the past eight years, the retail industry and employers across the country have faced a crushing regulatory burden that has created immense uncertainty in labor relations and made it much harder to grow,” said National Retail Federation Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French.
“Much of this uncertainty has stemmed from the NLRB’s pursuit of an activist agenda that consistently put the interests of labor unions before the rights of employers and employees,” he added. “Both job creators and employees will benefit from a more balanced approach in labor relations.”
The National Restaurant Association and the International Franchise Association also hailed the two nominations and called for their speedy confirmations.