« BACK  |  PRINT

RS

MEMBER DIARY

NLRB UPDATE: McCain Vows to Block AFL-CIO/SEIU’s Becker

By: LaborUnionReport (Diary)  |  October 21st, 2009 at 10:33 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

An update to Saturday’s post on the union radical, Craig Becker’s nomination to the National Labor Relations Board:

This afternoon, as expected, the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee voted (without a hearing) 15-8 to confirm President Obama’s nominees to the NLRB.

In a surprising and welcome twist, however, Senator John McCain stated that he would “place a hold” on the radical Craig Becker’s nomination, effectively blocking a vote in the full Senate.

According to the AP:

Under Senate rules, a single lawmaker can block a full vote on the Senate floor.

“This is probably the most controversial nominee that I have seen in a long time,” McCain said. His remarks echoed complaints by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and dozens of business groups that claim Becker’s views are “out of the mainstream.”

[To the say the least!]

The Shopfloor has a good summary (based on an HR Policy Association Brief) as to why Becker may be very harmful to both employers, employees and, ultimately, the economy: 

  • Legalizing Disruptive “Quickie” Strikes
  • Eliminating the Employer Role in Union Representation Elections
  • Denying the Employer’s Ability to Challenge the Union’s Definition of the Unit
  • Barring the Employer From Joining the Union in Observing the Election Process
  • Denying the Employer the Ability to Object to Union Misconduct
  • Limiting Employer Access to Federal Courts to Challenge Key NLRB Rulings
  • Creating a “Body of New Campaign Rules” to Neutralize Employers in Union Representation Campaigns
  • Stretching the Statutory Framework

We’ll keep you posted with further developments on this important issue as they happen.

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

Tags: , ,

COMMENTS

POSTING RULES  |  LOGIN TO COMMENT  |  REGISTER TODAY
  • zbigreddogz

    McCain never gets credit for anything he does right around here, which is most things, frankly.

    But I thank him for doing this. Now, if he could just go back and, say, redo the last two months of his Presidential campaign…

    • mbecker908
      • pilgrim
        • mbecker908
  • Xasteius

    Are these principles here just because he’s seeking re-election in 2010, or are they here to stay?

    • mbecker908

      He’ll win in a walk no matter what he does.

      And in the world of completely unprincipled people McCain is in the same box with John Kerry.

  • Achance

    of repealing the Republican/Chamber/NAM back Taft-Hartley Amendments to the National Labor Relations Act. That has proven impossible and probably remains so. What Becker espouses is using the National Labor Relations Boards regulatory and decision-making powers to administratively repeal as much of Taft-Hartley (and Landurm-Griffin, the anti-corruption provisions from the mid-50s) as possible.

    In a sane world an employer, at least a well-off one, can defend itself against NLRB overzealousness by appealing their decisions through the federal courts. Even liberal courts look askance at regulatory agencies exceeding their statutory authority. It takes time and money but lots of NLRB decisions have been overturned by the Courts. However, with Comrade Obama’s thugs in charge of things, you can bet that any employer with the temerity to challenge an NLRB determination will be labeled an enemy of the state, called out on National TV by Comrade Obama, and have the undivided attention of OSHA, EPA, DOL, and the FBI – and their State analogs in the Blue states.

  • GregInFla

    From Newsmax:

    McCain, an Arizona Republican, called the proposed rules a “government takeover” of the Internet that will stifle innovation and depress an “already anemic” job market in the United States. McCain was the Republican challenger to President Barack Obama in the 2008 election, and Obama has said net neutrality rules are among his top tech priorities.

    McCain protested the FCC’s proposal that wireless broadband providers be included in the rules. The wireless industry has “exploded over the past 20 years due to limited government regulation,” McCain said.

    “Today I’m pleased to introduce the Internet Freedom Act of 2009 that will keep the Internet free from government control and regulation,” McCain said. “It will allow for continued innovation that will in turn create more high-paying jobs for the millions of Americans who are out of work or seeking new employment. Keeping businesses free from oppressive regulations is the best stimulus for the current economy.”

    He is sounding like someone on a campaign.

    • BlackConservative

      McCain on a campaign for anything makes me want to vomit. John McCain is everything that’s wrong with the GOP now. This is a good thing, but probably done so Johnny can get his name in the papers with his friends, the NYT. The only thing he needs to be campaigning for is better pudding for the home someone needs to put him in.

  • http://andrightlyso.com/ civil_truth

    The good points: he can’t be bought, and he does sometimes support conservative positions.

    The bad points: to much of the time, he’s pointing the muzzle at conservative.

    But since he’s untouchable in Arizona, we don’t have much choice. So let’s be hapy when he does the right thing, but not pledge support for him (which he doesn’t need anyway).

    • mbecker908

      by the NYT, the WaPo and the producers of the Sunday shows.

      • http://andrightlyso.com/ civil_truth

        After I posted my comment, I thought about McCain’s relationship with the media and how he likes to be stroked by the NYT, etc. And I expected that you would likely respond as you did. You didn’t disappoint me…

        Your observation about his relationship over the years to the NYT, WaPo, etc, is quite accurate, as has been discussed on RedState many times.

        However, strictly speaking, I don’t call this being bought, although the outcome is similar in terms of his doing-in conservatives. The difference has to do with which party is the prime mover.

        When I say a politician is bought, the transaction is that the buyer is taking the initiative and offering a valuable consideration in return for the politican’s vote, etc. So in the context here, what I meant is that McCain is not going to be bribed (monetarily or otherwise) or be bullied to change his hold on Becker (no relation, I trust) – or to fold on Net Neutrality. He will set the price for changing his vote, not Obama and the Democrats. They don’t have any leverage over him.

        Turning to the media, then by the above defintion, I wouldn’t say that McCain is being bought.That is, I don’t see is the media coming to McCain and offering him complimentary treatment in return for his changing his votes. That would be “being bought”.

        Rather McCain is selling (whoring?) himself to these media for vanity’s sake, prone to tailoring his votes-negotiating with the expectation that they can stroke him and make him out to be the good guy, the bipartisan player, invite him on talk shows, write nice things about him. etc.

        So I do think there’s a distinction in motivation, which is that he is his own man – which is another way of saying what you and others have long said, that McCain is for McCain.

        In practice, of course, that still leads him to stabbing conservatives in the back at critical times, or perhaps pulling his punches sometimes.

        Though, (and we may disagree here), I do see some change since the election.I think he was hurt by their treatment of him and is acting a bit gun-shy.

        But continuing, besides McCain being for McCain, his political philosophy is idosyncratic – he does not have consistent political philosophy but rather decides each issue on its own.

        This make him maddening to conservatives and liberals alike – just when you think you can predict what he’s going to do, he goes off an pulls another surprise. Perhaps he enjoys being unpredictable or pull surprises and that is part of the reason he does so.

        Of course, since McCain’s a Republican has tended to call himself a conservative, he wounds us more deeply. But the Democrats would never accept him as one of their own, either.

        McCain marches to his own drum. Which means we can’t trust him to be in the trenches with us when we need him. So we need to stop trying to think he’s otherwise. And we’re not going to change him.

        • mbecker908