Labor

Biden’s Labor Board Begins Withdrawing Complaints Against Unions

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The National Labor Relations Board withdrew two complaints that alleged union-employer collusion and which were pursued by the board’s previous leadership.

Under the leadership of newly appointed Acting General Counsel Peter Sung Ohr, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) withdrew two workers’ rights complaints, which alleged employers and labor unions colluded to force unionization. President Joe Biden designated Ohr to serve as acting general counsel after he fired former President Donald Trump’s appointed general counsel in an unprecedented move.

“The withdrawal of this complaint shows exactly why President Biden carried out his unprecedented, legally dubious firing of NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb: so Biden’s handpicked NLRB replacements could protect the privileges of Biden’s union boss political allies at the expense of individual workers’ rights,” National Right to Work Foundation (NRTW) President Mark Mix said in a statement.

The NLRB announced it would withdraw a complaint against the labor union UniteHere! and Embassy Suites by Hilton in downtown Seattle on Friday. On Monday, the labor board said it would withdraw a complaint involving UniteHere! and Yotel Boston.

Peter Robb, the general counsel appointed by Trump whose term was supposed to last until November, had sided with hotel workers who filed the complaints in both cases, according an NRTW spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Workers at Embassy Suites and Yotel Boston argued their employer had worked with Unite Here to compel employees to approve of unionization.

“Embassy Suites gave union organizers space in the hotel to meet and solicit employees,” NRTW said in a press release Friday. “It also provided union officials with a list of all employees’ names, jobs, and contact information to assist the union in collecting authorization cards from workers.”

The complaint filed by a Yotel Boston employee included similar allegations involving a neutrality agreement, according to the NRTW spokesperson. Neutrality agreements are contracts between unions and employers, which outline the two parties’ agreement to unionize a workforce.

Such agreements generally involve restricting anti-union speech in a workplace, forcing non-secret ballot elections and allowing union officials access to the workplace and employee information.

In both cases, Robb sided with workers who filed the complaints arguing the neutrality agreement was an unfair labor practice.

“In this case, like many others, Robb enforced the statutory rights of independent-minded workers against union boss attempts to coerce workers into union ranks and dues payment,” Mix said.