CWA Commends Confirmation of Lauren McFerran to NLRB

Washington, D.C. -- CWA President Larry Cohen issued this statement on the Senate vote confirming Lauren McFerran as a member of the National Labor Relations Board:

U.S. working women and men, but especially 80 million who don’t have union bargaining rights, rely on the National Labor Relations Board for a path to workplace justice. The confirmation of Lauren McFerran as a member of the NLRB ensures that current NLRB policy will continue for the next two years.

As labor counsel to Senator Tom Harkin and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, McFerran has extensive knowledge of labor and employment law. Her confirmation means the Board can continue to carry out its responsibilities under the National Labor Relations Act.  

It is unfortunate that the nomination of another highly qualified candidate, former Member Sharon Block, did not proceed despite a positive vote of the HELP committee before the Senate election recess. Soon-to-be Majority Leader McConnell, in his initial meeting with the President, demanded Block’s withdrawal even though he did not have the votes to block her confirmation and at least one Republican on the committee had voted for her. The President agreed; we should all view that as a wake-up call for attacks on workers’ rights in the next Congress.

The anti-worker ideological bent exhibited by the new Senate majority is without precedent since the passage of the NLRA 80 years ago. Working people now are on notice that Senator McConnell will be aiming at workers’ rights as a core part of his leadership, and with the full support and encouragement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It is up to the rest of us, not just labor, to support workers’ rights as we build a movement for economic justice and democracy.