House GOP Warns Of Possible ‘Backdoor’ For EFCA

Republicans in the House Committee on Education and Labor picked up on a recent article by Philip Klein in The American Spectator, where they point out that the Obama Administration may attempt to see the Employee Free Choice Act enacted via the National Labor Relations Board as it has hit roadblocks in the Senate.

Here is what Klein said:

To this date, Republicans have succeeded in preventing EFCA from becoming law, but the bill’s legislative fate may not even matter if Obama gets several controversial nominees to the labor panel confirmed.

Currently, there are only two members on the five-member NRLB -- one is a Republican and the other a Democrat. To tilt the balance of the board, Obama tapped two union lawyers (Craig Becker and Mark Pearce). He also appointed a Republican Senate staffer, Brian E. Hayes, in hopes it would dissuade Republican senators from blocking the other two.

Becker, a longtime labor activist…wrote a law review article arguing that the major aims of EFCA could be achieved through rulings by the regulatory body to which Obama has appointed him.

Here is what the GOP said in their press release:

It sure seems convenient for union leadership to have friends on the inside who can make their wishes come true without bothering to get the approval of Congress or the American people. Unfortunately, this backdoor to enacting “card check” would still spell trouble for our economy and cost jobs at a time when millions of Americans are out of work. Rather than getting clever with its approach to achieving EFCA standards, the Administration should abandon this item on its job-killing agenda.