Ahead of NLRA Signing Anniversary, Reminders of What's at Stake in Senate NLRB Nomination Battle

Washington, DC – Seventy-eight years ago, on July 5, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) into law. Among its provisions, the legislation established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to safeguard employees' rights to organize and to guard against unfair labor practices.

Upon signing the NLRA , F.D.R. stated, “Accepted by management, labor and the public with a sense of sober responsibility and of willing cooperation…[the NLRA] should serve as an important step toward the achievement of just and peaceful labor relations in industry.”

Today, instead of taking steps to achieve equitable labor relations and provide workers with a voice, our nation is at the precipice of eviscerating such rights and hard-won protections : without a quorum of at least three NLRB members, the Board will cease to function and 80 million private sector workers will no longer have the protections of labor law by Labor Day.

The rights and freedoms advanced and enacted by previous generations, which helped to build the strongest middle class in history, should not be forgotten or discarded easily. Should the slate of five bi-partisan nominees to the NLRB continue to be blocked by Senate Republicans, the Democratic Majority in the Senate must change the Senate rules to allow for an “up or down” vote on nominees and to maintain functional American labor law.

For more information, visit giveus5nlrb.org .

Contact: CWA Communications, 202-434-1168