The Cablevision 22 Are Only the Beginning

A new DC Circuit Appeals Court ruling is allowing anti-union employers to flout the law.  

The Nation explains:

In their January ruling, Noel Canning v. NLRB, a three-judge panel from the DC circuit found several of President Obama’s appointments—including those of three NLRB members he appointed in January 2012—to be illegal. At issue were the limits of the president’s authority to make recess appointments. The three judges, all Republican appointees, issued a ruling significantly narrowing that power; a Congressional Research Service report found that under the standard used in the decision, hundreds of appointments made by presidents stretching back to Reagan would have been invalidated. Under a 2011 Supreme Court ruling, the NLRB requires at least three members in order to issue decisions; without the 2012 appointments, it would have lacked a quorum for the past year.

The Noel Canning decision conflicts with rulings in other circuits on the same question, and so the issue appears destined for the Supreme Court. In the meantime, Republicans have urged the NLRB to suspend operations and have proposed eliminating its members’ salaries. The NLRB has refused, noting that the Canning decision technically applies only to a single case. One nursing home company, displeased with an NLRB injunction ordering it to rehire 600 striking workers in Connecticut, petitioned the Supreme Court to override the NLRB because of Canning decision; the Supreme Court has so far declined to weigh in.

In New York, CWA activists are fighting a similar battle. Just five days after the decision, 22 Cablevision technicians used the company’s “open-door” policy’ to demand that management stop stalling at the bargaining table. They requested 5 minutes of the company’s time to send that message. They waited 20 minutes, then management shuttled them into a conference room where they waited 20 minutes more. Finally a vice president walked in and informed everyone that they were being “permanently replaced.”

CWA has filed charges with the NLRB seeking an injunction to reinstate the workers. But, in knocking down three of the board’s five members, the Noel Canning decision has completely destroyed the NLRB’s ability to enforce US labor law.

The Cablevision 22 are just the beginning. Labor attorney Moshe Marvit, a fellow at the Century Foundation, says the decision will encourage more employers like Cablevision act with impunity:

Now, even if a union wins a favorable NLRB ruling, said Marvit, employers can delay or avoid complying by instead going to court to challenge the NLRB members’ legitimacy. “Even if they lose, they’ll get the usual slap on the wrist,” said Marvit. “So it’s kind of in their best interest to even openly violate the law here.”