NLRB boosters continue quest for funding boost

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Nov 14, 2022 View in browser   By Nick Niedzwiadek CRUNCH TIME: The National Labor Relations Board needs money, badly. Or at least that's the pitch that's been coming from the agency's political appointees and its union representatives for well over a year now. Its annual budget has sat at a little over $274.2 million since 2014. The thought from organized labor and union-friendly Democratic allies was that unified control of Congress would be enough to effectuate a substantial boost to the NLRB's funding levels — especially as union's popularity has soared and the agency has seen its workload balloon . However to date that has not materialized, and the prospect of Republicans grasping power in Congress (still a possibility, at least in the House) all but shuts that window of opportunity for at least two years. "We have a huge target on our backs," Michael Bilik, an NLRB attorney and legislative co-chair for the National Labor Relations Board Union, told POLITICO. "It's been a top priority of Republicans to prevent us from getting a single dollar of an increase." Against that backdrop, the NLRBU is making a late push for lawmakers to hammer out a spending deal in the lame-duck term — and sounding alarm over dire consequences if one doesn't materialize. "Clearly the best chance we're gonna have in the next two years is during the lame duck session, Bilik said. Last week the NLRBU posted a Twitter thread raising the prospect of furloughing employees in the not-to-distant future, due to the crunch of rising costs — plus President Joe Biden's 4.6 percent raise for much of the federal workforce — into a flat budget. Headcount at the NLRB has shrunk by hundreds, down to about 1,200 since its last budget increase. "At no other time in recent memory has the need for a robust and fully funded NLRB been greater," Bill Samuel, the AFL-CIO's director of government affairs, said in a statement. "This isn't the time for furloughs. This is the time for funding." Of course the dynamics that have stymied budget increases in the past remain the same. Conservatives and business groups are hard-set against bolstering the NLRB, while for Democrats, there's always a laundry list of priorities competing for what funding is available. Plus the money at stake — roughly $45 million — is minuscule relative to other items hashed out in spending negotiations, making it a tough sell to hold up an agreement over. The NLRB did not return a request for comment. GOOD MORNING. It's Monday, Nov. 14. Welcome back to Weekly Shift, your go-to tipsheet on employment and related immigration news. As receivers of many a random PR pitch, we found this stunt pretty engrossing . Send feedback, tips, and exclusives to emueller@politico.com and nniedzwiadek@politico.com . Follow us on Twitter at @eleanor_mueller and @nickniedz .   POLITICO APP USERS: UPGRADE YOUR APP BY DECEMBER 19! We recently upgraded the POLITICO app with a fresh look and improved features for easier access to POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Starting December 19, users will no longer have access to the previous version of the app. Update your app today to stay on top of essential political news, insights, and analysis from the best journalists in the business. UPDATE iOS APP – UPDATE ANDROID APP .     Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro . You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories. On the Hill DEMS HOLD SENATE: Incumbent Democrats in Arizona and Nevada held onto their Senate seats, notching the 50 members required for control of the upper chamber, our Natalie Allison, Marianne LeVine and Jessica Piper report. The victories by Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) mean that Democrats can continue to chug along confirming judges and executive branch nominees for two more years, rather than have to sprint to do so during the lame-duck period. Now focus is shifting to the runoff contest in Georgia set for Dec. 6. A victory by Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) over Republican Herschel Walker — in addition to a touch of breathing room on tight votes — would give Democrats majorities on committees that have been evenly divided this Congress, as Marianne also notes . That split has led to a number of deadlocked votes — such as on Kalpana Kotagal's nomination to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — that necessitate additional time and procedural rigamarole in order to confirm President Joe Biden's choices. The Senate results also foreclose an avenue for enhanced oversight and investigations by Republicans into the Biden administration, leaving them reliant on the House flipping — an outcome previously thought to be a lock, but turned out to be a more tenuous proposition . Around the Agencies TIME KEEPS ON SLIPPING, SLIPPING : The Labor Department is still actively working on a final rule to set Covid-19 safety standards for workers in health care settings, the agency's top attorney said last week. "We are now in the process of finalizing that rule," DOL Solicitor Seema Nanda said Thursday at the ABA's labor and employment law conference in D.C. Nanda specifically highlighted "record-keeping provisions" and requirements on employers to develop their plans with input from workers as some of the things that have been among the key components of the forthcoming rule. The rule would replace an emergency temporary standard issued last year by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that ran into legal difficulties.   DON'T MISS POLITICO'S 2nd ANNUAL DEFENSE SUMMIT ON 11/16: The United States is facing a defining moment in the future of its defense, national security and democratic ideals. The current conflicts and developments around the world are pushing Washington to reshape its defense strategy and how it cooperates with allies. Join POLITICO for our second annual defense summit, "At a Crossroads: America's Defense Strategy" on November 16 in person at the Schuyler DC or join online to hear keynote interviews and panels discussing the road ahead for America's national security. REGISTER HERE .     In the Workplace CHILD LABOR: A major food sanitation company is accused of employing more than 30 children to work overnight shifts cleaning slaughterhouse floors, NBC News reports . The allegations include minors as young as 13 years old at three facilities located in Nebraska and Minnesota that contract with Packers Sanitation Services. "U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh asked the Federal District Court of Nebraska to issue a temporary restraining order and nationwide preliminary injunction against the company to stop it from employing minors while the Labor Department continues its investigation." What to watch: "Initial evidence indicates the company may also employ more kids under similar conditions at 400 other sites across the country, in addition to the 31 minors employed at three sites that investigators already confirmed, according to the complaint." More workplace news: " Why are way more women suddenly working in construction? " from The Washington Post. Unions GOING MEDIEVAL: Workers at a Medieval Times, a dinner-and-a-show chain, have voted to unionize at a second location, HuffPost reports . "Workers at the company's Buena Park, California, location voted 27 to 18 in favor of joining the American Guild of Variety Artists on Thursday, according to a union spokesperson." Earlier this year, Medieval Times workers in northern New Jersey broke the seal on unionization that the company has strenuously opposed. Medieval Times has gone so far as to sue the union, alleging that its name — Medieval Times Performers United — violates intellectual property law by appropriating the company's title. More union news: " Staffing Up Aviation Workforce Among 2023 Union Priorities ," from Bloomberg Law. IN THE STATES DISTRICT DISCORD: National Labor Relations Board prosecutors accused D.C. food chain Union Kitchen of more than two dozen labor law violations amid a union organizing drive, DCist reports . The allegations run the gamut. The complaint states that Union Kitchen "wrongfully terminated several employees, interrogated workers about their union activity, hosted mandatory 'captive audience' meetings where workers were encouraged to reject organizing efforts, and tried to offer special benefits if workers distanced themselves from the union drive," as well as refusing to subsequently bargain with the union. A hearing was set for Feb. 13. More state news: " Wall Street Bonuses Duck NYC Pay Law Aimed at Fixing Wage Gaps ," from Bloomberg. HAPPENING TODAY At 1:45 p.m. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and first lady Jill Biden spotlight apprenticeship programs, Aon in Chicago.  What We're Reading — " Disney Details Plans for Cost Cuts, Layoffs and Hiring Freeze in Memo ," from The Wall Street Journal. — " 'A World Cup Built on Modern Slavery': Stadium Workers Blow the Whistle on Qatar's 'Coverup' of Migrant Deaths and Suffering ," from Rolling Stone. — " Two Weeks of Chaos: Inside Elon Musk's Takeover of Twitter ," from The New York Times. THAT'S ALL FOR WEEKLY SHIFT!   Follow us on Twitter Eleanor Mueller @eleanor_mueller Nick Niedzwiadek @nickniedz   Follow us

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