The American Bar Association (“ABA”) published an article written by Alan H. Bowie, Jr. titled Updates from the NLRB and the Office of The General Counsel in its 2019 Section of Labor and Employment Law Winter Newsletter.  His article summarizes updates from the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) and the Office of NLRB General Counsel given at the ABA’s 12th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference.

NLRB updates were given by current Board Members Chairman Jonathan Ring, Lauren McFerran, Marvin Kaplan, and William Emanuel.  The Board Members covered topics ranging from the use of rulemaking to establish the current board’s position on laws, internal ethics and the recusal process, and the use of alternative dispute resolution to resolve NLRB cases more efficiently.  As we previously reported, the issue of Board Member recusals became a hot topic after the Board was required to vacate the Hy-Brand decision.

The updates from the Office of the NLRB General Counsel were given by Assistant General Counsel for the NLRB Alice Stock.  Attorney Stock discussed the Office’s first-year case statistics under new General Counsel Peter Robb, the General Counsel’s approach to case handling, and his position on certain NLRB laws.

Overall, the respective updates indicated that the NLRB and Office of the General Counsel are looking to prioritize efficiency and restore “balance” to the agency and the laws.  For the full article, click here.