House Committee Considers “NLRB’s Assault on Right-to-Work”

This is an update to an April 22, 2015, blog post.

On June 3, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing it titled, “Compulsory Unionization through Grievance Fees: The NLRB’s Assault on Right-to-Work.” Chairman John Kline (R-MN) explained the basis for the hearing: “In recent years, the president’s appointees at the NLRB have undermined employee free choice through an ambush election scheme, stifled employee freedom through micro-unions, and restricted employee access to secret ballot union elections,” Kline said in prepared remarks. “Now the board is setting its sights on the freedom and choice provided to employees under state right-to-work laws.” Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts and Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee, both testified and expressed concern about any erosion of existing right-to-work laws.

The NLRB has signaled that it may consider permitting unions to charge non-members “fair share” fees or other assessments for representational functions such as grievance processing, despite state right-to-work laws. More information about the hearing can be found here. A Fox News report on the hearing can be found here.