This is not a false alarm. The NLRB’s quorum lives:
Although the “it’s almost here” call has come many times before, the NLRB finally has a quorum and can start chipping away at the case backlog. On the final evening before congressional recess, the Senate confirmed Crystal Carey as general counsel along with James Murphy and Scott Mayer as board members. These Trump nominees join Democrat David Prouty, and a quorum exists for the first time since Jan. 2025, but wait, there’s more context to this story.
Prouty’s current term expires on Aug. 27, 2026, so fingers are crossed that at least one more nominee passes muster before that date. Currently, two more vacant seats exist after ex-Chair Marvin Kaplan exited, and Trump fired Gwynne Wilcox, whose fate remains in litigation.
New guidance will likely be coming from Carey early next year. Yet although acting GC William Cowen insisted that the case backlog wouldn’t take long to clear, Littler Mendelson labor attorney and shareholder Alex MacDonald warns that few quick changes will likely be arriving, including any potential overturning of Biden-era precedent.
Some GM workers are criticizing the UAW:
GM workers at Detroit’s Factory Zero are vocally protesting their union’s lack of a public stance on impending layoffs of 1,140 workers at the EV assembly plant amid production cuts. The layoffs are scheduled for early January, and union members aren’t holding back on their disappointment in responses captured by progressive publication WSWS.
Despite Factory Zero’s proximity to the UAW’s international headquarters, President Shawn Fain apparently hasn’t driven five miles to hold one meeting to address worker concerns, and they are understandably miffed. The publication quotes one worker referencing Fain as seeking “celebrity” and media attention only: “We need to get rid of him next year.” Several other workers echoed that sentiment, so we will see what happens next year when Fain is up for reelection.
Not incidentally, Fain’s chief of staff, Chris Brooks, resigned after federal monitor Neil Barofsky’s most recent report showcasing the union’s retaliatory culture.
Video game organizing is having another moment:
Back in January 2023, the first Microsoft union officially came into existence with recognition from the tech conglomerate. At that time, 300 video game testers at subsidiary ZeniMax Studios, makers of The Elder Scrolls, voted to join CWA. This news arrived six months after Microsoft publicized their neutrality agreement, which includes a pledge not to oppose the organizing process, and about a year after we told you about CWA's aggressive initiative to organize tech workers of all stripes.
That ongoing quest is making headlines again.
This month, 165 video game workers at Id Software, a Microsoft subsidiary and the markers of the Quake and Doom franchises, voted to form a wall-to-wall union with CWA. Although the vote was not unanimous, a majority was in favor of pulling every non-supervisory role into the union fold.
The union claims to have unionized almost 1,600 gaming workers this year.
Trader Joe’s United tactics unveiled in congressional testimony:
Trader Joe’s crew member Michael Alcorn worked at the Hadley, MA store that was the first unionized location in the company. Now, he’s a worker advocate and visiting fellow at the Institute for the American Worker.
This week, Alcorn testified in front of the House Committee on Education & Workforce about Trader Joe’s United’s underhanded tactics during and after the organizing drive at the Hadley location. His refreshingly frank and informative testimony can be watched here.
Choice quotes include how Alcorn and his co-workers were “labeled ‘anti-union’ for simply raising concerns” about the union’s deceptive tactics while gathering authorization cards and beyond. He described the union’s wholly un-democratic approach and now urges Congress to pass worker-friendly legislation to “strengthen disclosure requirements” for unions, so that workers have the full picture, not what Big Labor wants them to hear.
The U.S. House voted to overturn an executive order (EO) on federal employee unions:
For the first time in this Trump presidential term, the House voted to nullify one of his EOs. More surprising is how this was a rare bipartisan display for a bill, which was originated by Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), that is aimed at resuming federal agency workers’ collective bargaining rights.
While citing national security concerns, Trump had previously issued the EO that could have voided collective bargaining agreements for around 700,000 union members working for the federal government. The White House has yet to issue a response to this legislative move, but the House’s 231-195 vote sends the bill onto the Senate.
However, nobody can even begin to guess when that chamber will pick up the topic after recess.
On that note, Happy Holidays! Our Labor Relations INK newsletter will return the week of January 5.
