Core to the Biden administration’s economic policy was an attempt to rebalance the power between workers and employers through labor and employment regulations, from the Federal Trade Commission’s ban on non-compete clauses to the Department of Labor’s expanded overtime protections.
At the center of this effort was the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency charged with protecting workers’ rights to organize and combating unfair labor practices. Led by general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, the board took an active stance in interpreting and enforcing labor law, generating new precedents that reduced barriers to worker voice and unionization.
We reached out to Abruzzo to discuss takeaways from the NLRB’s efforts, as well as advice for how policymakers and business leaders should move forward under a new administration. Here are excerpts from our conversation, edited for length and clarity:
What do you see as the most important achievements of the Biden NLRB? What has been the impact on workers and organizations?
We’ve made great gains in enforcing labor law in the way Congress intended—to protect the rights of workers to organize, engage together to improve their wages, benefits and working conditions, collectively bargain through representatives of their free choosing, or refrain from these activities.
We’ve won transformative Board decisions, such as: Miller Plastics and American Federation for Children, which better defines protected concerted activities; Home Depot, which protects workers engaged in social, racial, and economic justice advocacy to improve their workplaces; Stericycle, which ensures employers’ work rules do not restrict employee statutory rights; McLaren Macomb, which precludes broad confidentiality and non-disparagement language in severance agreements; Lion Elastomers, which better addresses employee conduct during union and protected concerted activities; Cemex, which better protects workers’ rights to organize a union; Amazon Logistics, which prohibits employers from coercing employees in captive audience meetings, and many more.
We’ve obtained robust and impactful remedies for workers and their families when statutory rights have been violated–in settlements and in litigation. And we’ve achieved significant progress in making the NLRB more accessible and ensuring that all workers know their rights and can safely participate in our processes—no matter the language they speak, their immigration status, or their identity.
What did you see during the last Trump NLRB that has informed your strategy during the Biden administration? Given the back-and-forth nature of presidential transitions, are there ways that the NLRB has sought to protect progress against future reversals?
Every NLRB board member and general counsel is charged by Congress with fully effectuating the National Labor Relations Act. That is what I’ve tried to do and what I expect that every future board member and general counsel will do. My hope is that they will act in their respective positions keeping in mind why the NLRA was enacted in the first place, which was to address industrial instability caused by workers’ lack of sufficient channels of communication with their employers by leveling the playing field between employers and employees and giving workers the right to organize, collectively bargain, and act together to improve their workplace circumstances.
With the constitutionality of the NLRB under attack from some employers and anti-labor activists, how do you make the case for the continued relevance of the NLRB in today’s economy?
In today’s economy, workers’ rights to organize and join together are more important than ever and the NLRB is the protector of those rights at the federal level. As for the NLRB being under attack, it is nothing new for big companies to challenge the authority of the NLRB to enforce workers’ rights so as not to be held accountable for their violations of the National Labor Relations Act. In 1937, the Supreme Court made it clear that the NLRA is constitutional, and the NLRB will continue to do what Congress has mandated it to do, despite the continued challenges. While the current challenges require the NLRB to expend scarce resources defending against them, we’ve seen that the result of these kinds of challenges is ultimately a delay in justice, but that ultimately justice does prevail.
What’s the role of the c-suite in preserving and reaffirming workers’ rights? Are there ways that leaders can actively cultivate more democratic workplaces even as some prepare for a less active enforcement in the next administration?
Management can make an enormous difference in the lives of their workers and communities by respecting their workers’ rights, including ensuring managers and supervisors understand what they can and cannot do under labor law, and engaging in good faith collective bargaining where employees have chosen to be represented by a union. The Small Business Administration has a really helpful Digital Toolkit to Empower Workers and Promote Benefits of Equitable Labor-Management Partnerships and I’ve put out resources for employers on collective bargaining as well: GC Collective Bargaining Resources | National Labor Relations Board.
When workers have a voice at the table and when their concerns are considered and addressed, it makes businesses more productive in innumerable ways.
For more coverage on how to navigate the presidential transition, check out our transition policy tracker.