By Kevin Mooney 
If the Republicans do take control of Congress next year, it would mean “hand-to-hand combat” to preserve vital policies, President Obama declared in a October 6th radio interview. But whatever the outcome is on Election Day, the administration’s team of unelected lawyers is already going for broke to secure unpopular anti-business policies without legislative consent.
Earlier this month, the acting general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a memorandum to the board’s regional offices directing them to file an injunction in federal court, known as a 10(j), that imposes strict stipulations on employers during union organization campaigns. This 10(j) rule sets new procedures in cases where a union claims an employee has been unlawfully fired.
Any union organizer who is said to be committing unfair labor practices must be kept on the payroll until a pending case is resolved under 10(j). The new rules do not offer any protections for employees who may be the victims of union misconduct.
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation sees this move as a backdoor way of imposing “card check” legislation that has failed to pass in Congress. Mark Mix, the foundation’s president, has released the following statement:
“The NLRB Acting General Counsel’s one-sided dictate creates a double standard against employees who want nothing to do with a union. For over 40 years, the National Right to Work Foundation has fought for the rights of hundreds of thousands of workers whose rights have been violated by union officials. Foundation attorneys frequently request 10(j) injunctions in cases in which union bosses are committing unfair labor practices against nonmember workers, but NLRB officials ignore those requests in virtually every case.”
Mix added, “The Acting General Counsel’s quick-snap injunctions rule creates a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ standard that will be used by union organizers to pressure employers into helping push employees into union ranks.”
Kevin Mooney is a contributing editor to Americans for Limited Government (ALG) News Bureau, and the Executive Editor of TimesCheck.com.
