Isakson Votes Against Craig Becker to Serve on National Labor Relations Board

Concerned Labor Lawyer Would Have Used Position to Unfairly Favor Labor Unions Just as New Nominees to National Mediation Board Have Done

Feb 09, 2010

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator and Senate candidate Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today praised the Senate’s decision against limiting debate on the nomination of Craig Becker to serve on the National Labor Relations Board, amid questions Becker would use his position to bypass Congress and manipulate the federal regulatory process to favor labor unions if he is confirmed.

The Senate rejected the cloture motion on Becker’s nomination by a vote of 52-33.

“It is clear that labor groups see Craig Becker’s nomination to the NLRB as an opportunity to do by regulatory authority what could not be done on the floor of the Senate,” Isakson said. “I voted against the confirmation of Mr. Becker with hope the administration will send a more convincing nominee to the floor who is committed to equal treatment and maintaining the delicate balance between labor unions and management in this country.”

In charging that Becker and the labor unions are conspiring to use the NLRB to impose pro-union rules that they can’t get passed in Congress, Isakson pointed to comments by Stewart Acuff, chief of staff and assistant to the president of the Utility Workers Union of America, who wrote on Feb. 4 in the Huffington Post that, “If we aren’t able to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, we will work with President Obama and Vice President Biden and their appointees to the National Labor Relations Board to change the rules governing forming a union through administrative action.”

During Becker’s nomination hearing before the Senate HELP Committee, Isakson questioned Becker about his past writings that have indicated a belief that the NLRB has the authority to make dramatic changes to the National Labor Relations Act without congressional action, including changes denying workers a secret ballot.

Isakson is strongly opposed to the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, also known as Card Check, which would eliminate the rights of workers to participate in a secret-ballot election in order to certify the creation of a union. Instead, the legislation would force employees to make a public declaration of their preference by allowing union organizers to bypass elections if a majority of employees sign cards authorizing a union.

Becker is currently associate general counsel to both the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union. The five-member NLRB to which he has been nominated supervises union elections, investigates labor practices and issues rulings that interpret the National Labor Relations Act.

During a speech on the Senate floor, Isakson also noted that pro-union members of another federal labor panel – the National Mediation Board – are also using their positions to impose pro-union rules. In 2009, the Senate confirmed two of President Obama’s nominees to the National Mediation Board only to watch them overturn 75 years of precedent by fiat just weeks after their confirmation.

“I listened to these appointees over and over again say they would be fair, say they would not be biased and say they did not have a preconceived position. Within weeks of being seated, they passed a resolution to change 75 years of precedent to shift the balance between labor and management,” Isakson said. “I remain concerned that Mr. Becker will follow their lead if he wins confirmation and compromise fairness to grant favors to the labor unions that currently employ him.”