NLRB Chairman Pearce: "My Vision Is For the National Labor Relations Act to Be Taken to the Streets"

Employment Law

In a speech commemorating the 80th anniversary of the National Labor Relations Act, NLRB Chairman Mark Pearce said the Board is "caught in an all-out war on collective bargaining" between harsh critics on both sides.  In seemingly contradictory statements reported by the Bureau of National Affairs, he noted that "our presence continues to ensure industrial peace," but also responded to recent mass demonstrations that "my vision is for the act to be taken to the streets."  One of management's major complaints about the Board is its tolerance of disruptive activities by employees in the name of "protected concerted activity."  A notable example was the Board's recent ruling, in Pier Sixty, that the employer had unlawfully terminated an employee who had posted to his Facebook account an extremely graphic and expletive-filled rant regarding his supervisor and his supervisor's family.  His entire posting was deemed protected because it also said "Vote YES for the UNION!!!!!!!"