Lawsuits Against National Labor Relations Board Could Cloud Future of Organized Labor

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KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The National Labor Relations Board is facing legal challenges from SpaceX, Amazon, Starbucks and other companies that argue that the nearly 90-year old agency is unconstitutional. The NLRB investigates labor disputes and protects employees’ right to organize, but if these companies have their way in court, it could result in the dissolution of the agency and the statute it enforces. We look at the cases and their implications for both employers and labor organizers. Guests: Samuel Estreicher, professor of public law; director, the Center for Labor and Employment Law; director, the Institute of Judicial Administration at NYU School of Law William G. Gould IV, professor emeritus specializing in labor law and employment discrimination law, Stanford Law School; former chairman, the National Labor Relations Board in the Clinton administration Farida Jhabvala Romero, labor correspondent, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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1:26.6	Coming up on forum, it's no secret today's U.S. Supreme Court is skeptical of the administrative state.
1:34.1	Big companies in Silicon Valley and beyond are trying to kill the National Labor Relations Act of 1935,
1:41.9	challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board in the
1:46.6	Business Friendly Fifth Circuit, hoping the Supreme Court will take up the cases.
1:52.2	What could this mean for workers' ability to organize?
1:55.3	We're talking about the future of unions in America.
1:58.7	That's next after this.
2:14.3	This is Forum. I'm Rachel Myro in for Mina Kim. A couple of years ago, a group of SpaceX employees published an open letter criticizing their CEO Elon Musk for being a
2:20.5	distraction and embarrassment. SpaceX promptly fired eight of them. Federal regulators then issued a
2:28.0	complaint alleging unlawful retaliation. What happened next is what we're talking about this
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