CONTACT:
Ori Korin
(202) 822-2127 x126
okorin@americanrightsatwork.org
Washington, D.C. – Following the recent Senate compromise negotiated to avert any further delay and obstruction of Executive Branch appointments to cabinet positions, the Senate must now act to consider promptly the White House’s full slate of nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), ensuring the agency can be operational.
“We’re extremely pleased that the Senate has cleared the way for a real vote on the NLRB nominees, a step necessary to free the agency from its current limbo status and allow it to function in its role protecting the rights of millions of workers in the United States,” commented Sarita Gupta, executive director of Jobs with Justice and American Rights at Work.
She continued, “America’s workers need policies stronger than the status quo to fully protect their rights on the job, but in the meantime, the NLRB is still where many workers turn to when they are fired unfairly, their free speech is threatened, or their working conditions are unsafe. So now the Senate must finish its job and swiftly confirm Obama’s full package of nominees for the NLRB to protect the vital rights of employees to collectively improve their job standards.”
On July 23, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions will hold a hearing on the recent NLRB nominations of Kent Hirozawa and Nancy Schiffer. At present, two of the five seats on the Board are vacant and the term of one of the three current Board members, Chairman Mark Pearce, will expire this August. Without action by the Senate before August 27, the Board will be left without the quorum of at least three members that is required for it to function, leaving hundreds of labor rights cases in flux and no one effectively policing the workplace.
For interview requests please contact Ori Korin at okorin@americanrightsatwork.org.
