Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), along with the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF), has issued a press release supporting the fact finding inquiry into the National Mediation Board's (NMB) rulemaking procedures. The inquiry, put forward by Reps. Darrell Issa [R-CA] and Dennis Ross [R-FL], seeks information on potential suspicious behavior leading up to the NMB's attempts at facilitating unionization.
"Reps Issa and Ross worry that union political pressure may have influenced the federal agency charged with overseeing union-employer relations in the transportation industry: “(we are) troubled by evidence tending to show that this change in the rule was the result of a predetermined effort to advance a partisan policy agenda,” wrote Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Dennis Ross, chairman of the oversight subcommittee on labor policy
Looking to shed light upon the suspicious behavior preceding the NMB’s controversial rulemaking, the Issa and Ross letter codifies the Congressional NMB rebuke. House Republicans voted to overturn the NMB’s anti-worker rulemaking including this provision (Title IX) in the House-passed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization. With the Senate passing its own FAA reauthorization bill—which does not contain the House’s Title IX language—the House and Senate are scheduled to meet in conference to merge the two bills.
“It is hard to understate the importance of this letter from Representatives Issa and Ross. With union membership falling off a cliff in recent years, Big Labor has enlisted federal agencies, like the National Mediation Board, to help bolster unions’ ranks. This letter, combined with the House’s FAA bill, puts these regulatory agencies on notice—they can no longer blindly pursue partisan objectives while ignoring statutes and the people they purport to serve,” said Christopher Prandoni, Executive Director of the Alliance for Worker Freedom. “The next, imperative, step is ensuring that Title IX is included in the post-conference FAA reauthorization bill.”
Click on the document above for the full press release.