Trump's Labor Board Eyes Striking Down FDR-Era Union Protection

Pres. Trump’s labor board is considering killing a legal precedent that has protected unions since before he was born, according to a recent filing by the board.

One professor of labor law said he was “stunned” when Trump’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that it would review the precedent. An AFL-CIO lawyer told The Young Turks it is “highly likely” that the NLRB will at least narrow its scope.

The upcoming NLRB review arose from a dispute between a union representing 800 Delaware poultry workers and the Trump megadonor who owns the plant where they work. Many workers are immigrants and, according to legal filings, about two-thirds have required documents to be translated into Spanish or Haitian Creole.

The dispute has been joined by lawyers for a national right-wing group funded by rich conservatives that has long opposed the New Deal-era precedent.

Historically, when a union and employer sign a contract, the board has ruled that the contract bars attempts to decertify the union until at least three years later, or after the contract expiress. Without this precedent, known as the contract bar doctrine, deep-pocketed companie--or even third parties--could hammer a union with one vote after another to decertify the union as the workers' representative.

Even if the decertification votes fail, the repeated do-overs could become a dire strain on union resources. And unions nationwide are already bracing for impact: The record of this NLRB--all appointed by Trump--has unions expecting a setback.

As AFL-CIO General Counsel Craig Becker told TYT, “This [NLRB] board is very aggressive in its attempt to displace unions and so it’s highly likely that they’re gonna cut back on the contract bar rule in some way.”

Ironically, eroding the contract bar doctrine could also hurt companies, by destabilizing corporate relationships with unions.

Becker said that, “One of the arguments in favor of these bars is it gives both sides an incentive to be reasonable…as opposed to feeling you’ve got to fight to the hilt about everything.”

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