Labor & Employment Law

President nominates two NLRB Members

According to a White House Announcement (12/14/2011), the President has announced the intention of nominating two Democrats as Members of the National Labor Relations Board: Sharon Block (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor) and Richard Griffin (General Counsel for International Union of Operating Engineers). Also pending at the Senate is the nomination of Republican Terence F. Flynn (Chief Counsel to NLRB Board Member Brian Hayes).

The term of Democrat Craig Becker will expire at the end of December. This will leave only two Members, less than the quorum necessary to decide cases.

We anticipate that the Board will enter 2012 with only two Members, and that this situation will continue for a considerable period of time.

Sharon Block is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor. Between 2006 and 2009, Ms. Block was Senior Labor and Employment Counsel for the Senate HELP Committee, where she worked for Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Ms. Block previously served at the National Labor Relations Board as senior attorney to Chairman Robert Battista from 2003 to 2006 and as an attorney in the appellate court branch from 1996 to 2003. From 1994 to 1996, she was Assistant General Counsel at the National Endowment for the Humanities, and from 1991 to 1993, she was an associate at Steptoe & Johnson. She received a B.A. in History from Columbia University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center where she received the John F. Kennedy Labor Law Award.

Richard Griffin is the General Counsel for International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE). He also serves on the board of directors for the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, a position he has held since 1994. Since 1983, he has held a number of leadership positions with IUOE from Assistant House Counsel to Associate General Counsel. From 1985 to 1994, Mr. Griffin served as a member of the board of trustees of the IUOE's central pension fund. From 1981 to 1983, he served as a Counsel to NLRB Board Members. Mr. Griffin holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.

Full post as published by Ross' Employment Law Blog on December 15, 2011 (boomark / email).