Interviewed after chairing a subcommittee hearing into proposed changes that would accelerate the NLRB election process, Rep. Kline (R-MN) said, ““We are considering all options. We are considering legislation. There’s some discussion. I can’t be any more specific. I don’t have a bill number for you but it appears to many of us that the NLRB is overreaching, and we’re looking at remedies to that.” In his opening remarks, Kline stated, “The board’s recent proposal is part of an ongoing effort to promote a culture of union favoritism that is creating greater uncertainty among America’s job creators. We cannot sit by and become willing accomplices in the NLRB’s job-destroying agenda.” More than once the point was made in Thursday’s hearing that the Board’s overreach and blatant Big Labor bias was especially disturbing as both Member Becker and General Counsel Solomon were not approved by Congress to their appointments. On Wednesday, lawyers for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Associated Builders and Contractors and other trade associations filed comments on the proposed changes with the NLRB and asked for an extended comment period and more public hearings about the proposed changes across the country. The Board is racing the clock, however, as two of the four current members will see their terms expire before the end of the year and Congressional Republicans have made it clear they will do everything in their power to prevent another recess appointment by Pres. Obama. “We are going to exercise everything in our toolbox,” Kline said. “We will continue to shine as much light and use whatever tools that we find available to block this.”
