President Obama Announces Three Recess Appointments to NLRB
On January 4, 2012, President Obama announced his intent to make three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), restoring the quorum that the NLRB had lost a day earlier when Member Becker’s recess appointment expired. The three recess appointees are: (1) Sharon Block, a Democrat who is currently the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor; (2) Richard Griffin, a Democrat who is currently General Counsel for the International Union of Operating Engineers; and (3) Terence Flynn, a Republican who is currently Chief Counsel to NLRB Member Hayes.
With these recess appointments, the NLRB will once again have a 3-2 Democratic majority. Accordingly, employers can continue to expect NLRB decisions and rule-making efforts that are intended to bolster union organizing efforts, similar to the recent proposed rules requiring employers to post a notice of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act and amending union representation election procedures.
Republican Senators have complained that these recess appointments bypass the Constitutionally-mandated Senate confirmation process for Presidential nominees. According to a press release issued by Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), two of the three nominees were presented to the Senate on December 15, 2011, only one day before the Senate adjourned for the year, which provided the Senate with little time to consider and review the nominations.
