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Graham Targets NLRB in Appropriations Committee

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) announced plans to offer amendments tomorrow in the Senate Appropriations Committee to protect American businesses from the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) job-killing tactics.

“The NLRB is the Grim Reaper of job creation,” said Graham.  “They seem hell-bent on interjecting themselves into private sector business decisions for purely political reasons.  Last year, the NLRB attempted to intervene in a legitimate business decision by Boeing to expand aircraft manufacturing into South Carolina. Their decision did great damage to job creation efforts and they seem intent on continuing this destructive behavior.  On issue after issue the NLRB is destroying jobs and making the United States uncompetitive in the international marketplace.”

The Graham Amendments include:

NLRB Micro-Union: The NLRB decision in Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center of Mobile 357 allows unions to gerrymander the size of a bargaining unit.  Even if a majority of workers opposed the formation of a union, the NLRB decision allows unions to be formed by allowing the workforce to be subdivided into increasingly smaller groups.  Micro-unions have made managing the workforce increasingly more difficult and the Graham Amendment prohibits the NLRB from using its funds to enforce this rule.

NLRB Ambush Election: This NLRB decision shortens the timeframe for a union election to as little as ten days.  Over 95 percent of all union elections occur within 56 days and the current median is 38 days.  By rushing an election, the NLRB is deliberately stacking the deck against employers and denying them time to adequately defend themselves against union propaganda.  The Graham Amendment prohibits the NLRB from using funds on ambush elections.

NLRB Secret Ballot: In 2011, South Carolina was one of four states the NLRB threatened to sue after the state passed a law prohibiting unions from using the card-check process to unionize.  Card-check is ripe for abuse and intimidation of employees who may oppose unionization and would vote against it in a secret ballot election.  This amendment ensures the NLRB cannot block secret ballot elections. The House of Representatives has already passed the language in the Graham Amendment to protect secret ballot voting.

“The unprecedented actions taken by the NLRB move the agency into areas it’s never gone before.  My amendments aim to protect employers and employees from the counterproductive actions taken by the NLRB and I hope they will be adopted by the Senate Appropriations Committee tomorrow.”

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