Steven M. Swirsky, Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management and Health Care and Life Sciences practices, in the firm’s New York office, was quoted in Bloomberg BNA News and Bloomberg BNA Daily Labor Report, in “Labor Board Workers Tell Congress Budget Cuts Go Too Far,” by Chris Opfer and Josh Eidelson.
Following is an excerpt:
Nearly 400 National Labor Relations Board employees March 15 asked lawmakers to save the agency from budget cuts they say will water down rights for workers who have nowhere else to turn.
The Trump administration’s request to trim NLRB funding by 9 percent next year would stifle the board’s ability to enforce protections for workers, unions, and businesses, the group of agency employees said to leaders of appropriation and labor committees in Congress. The agency plays a central role in overseeing union elections and resolving unfair labor practice complaints. Federal law requires those disputes go through the board, rather than the courts. …
“The jury is out because we don’t know what they’re going to do,” Steven Swirsky, a lawyer at Epstein Becker & Green who represents businesses in labor disputes, told Bloomberg. “We don’t know what the budget is going to be, and if there are cuts we don’t know how they’re going to be applied and what operational, procedural changes that might lead to.” …
“This strikes me as different from what has occurred with other Republican general counsels,” Swirsky said of the internal response to the moves. He said agency employees are concerned about being able to support the NLRB’s mission and worried that “they are being seen by senior leadership as a part of a problem.”
“They may perceive themselves as being seen as part of the swamp and the administrative state,” Swirsky said.
People
Board of Directors / Member of the Firm