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CDW and Chamber Join Lawsuit Challenging NLRB Recess Appointments

The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (“CDW”) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (“Chamber”) have jointly filed a motion to intervene in a case challenging Pres. Obama’s latest appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”).  AGC is a member of both organizations. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that Board must have at least three members to issue legally effective decisions.  The Board was down to just two members on Jan. 4 when Pres. Obama bypassed the Senate confirmation process and announced three recess appointments to the Board.  At the time, Congress was holding pro forma sessions and was arguably not in recess.  The three new members took office on Jan. 9 and began issuing decisions.  The CDW and Chamber assert that the recess appointments were unconstitutional, leaving the Board with only two properly appointed members and rendering those decisions invalid. The case in which the CDW and Chamber have intervened, Noel Canning v. NLRB, is an appeal of a decision issued by the Board on Feb. 8 holding that the employer – a small bottling company in Washington state – unlawfully refused to reduce to writing a verbal collective bargaining agreement with a union.  The appeal is pending at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. CDW and various co-plaintiffs lost another challenge to the recess appointments in a separate case recently decided by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The primary focus of that case was a challenge to the Board’s authority to issue a final rule requiring employers to post notices of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act.  Click here to read more about that case.