John Nichols, journalist with The Nation, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about his story about attacks on the National Labor Relations Act and the National Labor Relations Board for being unconstitutional.
Several of the wealthiest corporations are going after national labor law in America. Nichols discussed a lawsuit from one of these corporations claiming the NLRB is unconstitutional. The case has already been argued, but now, the corporations are working to get the case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. In Nichols’ story, he talked with several leading Labor scholars, who claimed that if the case were to reach the Supreme Court, there could be a negative impact on the future of Labor Law in America.
The NLRB came before the NLRA, when the former National Labor Board was abolished by President Theodore Roosevelt and established the NLRB with Executive Order 6763 in 1934. In 1935, the U.S. Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”), encouraging collective bargaining by establishing workers' freedom to organize. The NLRA protects employees’ right to seek better working conditions without fear of retaliation at private-sector workplaces. After the establishment of the NLRA, the NLRB was tasked with enforcement by investigating allegations brought by workers, unions, or employers, conducting elections, and deciding and resolving cases.
This is not the first time the NLRB and NLRA have been attacked. The Supreme Court upheld the NLRA in National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation back in 1937. The Supreme Court determined that the U.S. Government can establish a board to act as an enforcement agency for Labor Law. Nichols discussed several of the concerns of the Supreme Court's current makeup and whether the NLRB could be declared unconstitutional.
Listen to the show above for more information on the story.