Trump Fills Final Vacancy on NLRB, Returns NLRB to Republican-Led Majority

Employers may have thought the good news emanating from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the last month has died down. But things are only just getting started. On Jan. 12, President Trump filled the final vacant position on the NLRB, replacing the recently departing board chair Phillip Miscimarra with John Ring, a management-side labor law attorney with Morgan Lewis. This appointment would return the five-member board to a 3-2 Republican-led majority, and spells further reforms of Obama-era decisions favoring the interests of organized labor. Ring’s nomination reflects the already changing tide at the NLRB. As noted in this post, the NLRB has rung the death knell on several important decisions made by the Obama-era NLRB, including rulings on joint-employer status and union election rules. In light of Ring’s nomination, employers can expect further reconsiderations of important board precedent, which will affect businesses.