Conservative groups are urging a Senate committee to reject President Trump’s nomination of Democrat Mark Pearce to another five-year term on the National Labor Relations Board, saying he has a record of “overreaching” the agency’s authority in support of union elections and other matters.
In a letter to Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, and ranking Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, the groups said Tuesday that Mr. Pearce’s legacy during two terms has been one of partisanship and “policies that harm worker freedom and job creation.”
“During Pearce’s tenure at the board, he failed to represent the public interest in labor disputes and demonstrated extreme pro-union leanings,” the groups wrote, adding that while he was chairman the agency issued decisions overturning 4,000 collective years of precedent. “The upheaval of labor rules that American businesses had relied upon for years created immense uncertainty for job creators and weakened workers’ freedom to choose.”
Signing the letter were representatives of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Heritage Action, Club for Growth, American Commitment, Campaign for Liberty, Consumer Action for a Strong Economy, FreedomWorks, the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, and the Center for Individual Freedom.
Many of the same groups urged Mr. Trump last summer not to renominate Mr. Pearce. The president went forward with the nomination in a deal with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York.
Conservative leaders said under Mr. Pearce’s leadership, the NLRB “made drastic changes to union election procedures.”
“Commonly known as the ’ambush election’ rule, the regulation drastically shortened the time period for union organizing elections, possibly to as little as 11 days after a union files a petition,” they wrote. “That gives employees little time to educate themselves on the pros and cons of unionizing. In addition, the ambush election rule puts workers’ private information at risk.”
They said he also “spearheaded the effort to upend the definition of joint employment” in a decision known as Browning-Ferris.
“The NLRB exposed thousands of employers to liability for other companies they do not control and employees they do not manage,” they wrote.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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