Good Riddance to a Terrible National Labor Relations Board Head

TomDispatch

 

Gabrielle Semel at Jacobin on the removal of the NLRB's Peter Robb.

—Erika

On his first day in office, newly inaugurated president Joe Biden sent a letter asking general counsel Peter Robb of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for his resignation — and advising him that if he did not resign, he would be fired.

Robb refused to resign; he was discharged the same day. No other general counsel has been fired in the history of the agency. One was asked to resign, many decades ago.

Many in the labor movement had pushed for Robb’s removal; they cheered. Employers, not so much. But who is Robb, and why does it matter?

The NLRB is the federal agency that administers the National Labor Relations Act. When most workers interact with the NLRB, it is with their local regional office. They may call with a question, file an unfair labor practice charge, give an affidavit, be a witness, vote in an election for a union, or even watch an NLRB trial — all involving the local region.

They may also know that there is a board somewhere in Washington, DC, deciding cases. What they usually don’t know is that between the regions and the board is a very powerful person — the general counsel (GC).

JACOBINMAG.COM

Good Riddance to a Terrible National Labor Relations Board Head