Craig Becker, a controversial member of the National Labor Relations Board, took his seat by recess appointment in April 2010.  President Obama has sent a renewed nomination to the Senate in hopes of giving Becker a full term through 2014.  There is a litany of reasons, from his past work for Big Labor to his votes on the NLRB, that the Senate should reject his nomination and demand a candidate who is not beholden to union interests.

Mr. Becker’s long history of union involvement should be enough to give the Senate pause.  Before his appointment, he was Associate General Counsel to the AFL-CIO and the SEIU, both notorious for their efforts to restrict non-unionized labor and punish independent employers.  As Americans for Tax Reform has previously reported, Becker has been outspoken in his radical views:

“Just as U.S. Citizens cannot opt against having a congressman, workers should not be able to choose against having a union as their monopoly-bargaining agent.”

In addition, Becker has explicitly advocated a gross pro-labor partisanship on the part of the NLRB, which he will undoubtedly implement if confirmed:

“On these latter issues employers should have no right to be heard in either a representation case or an unfair labor practice case, even though Board rulings might indirectly affect their duty to bargain.”

As a board member, Becker will likely support initiatives to give union organizers access to private property, force employers to promote unionization, and require the names and addresses of employees to be provided to an involved union. He and others on the NLRB have threatened various states with lawsuits for passing anti-Card Check legislation. All of these moves throw the door wide open to union monopolies and worker intimidation. 

With control of the House and Senate split, the Left has resorted to pushing noxious rulings through federal agencies. There is no reason to expect this to cease without direct congressional action.  An easy first step in correcting these injustices will be to vote down Craig Becker’s nomination.