For the Common Good: The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

Welcome to the latest edition of Women Employed’s series, For the Common Good, where we break down important issues that impact working women and their families — including the roles and the work of key federal agencies, departments, and programs — cut through the rhetoric, and provide actions you can take to make an impact.

Last week, hundreds of thousands of people and organizations across the country — and across the world — (including WE) marched and rallied in recognition of May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, and the anniversary of the Haymarket Incident in Chicago, a watershed moment in the American labor movement. The May Day protest comes at a key moment in the continued struggle to uphold the dignity of all work, immigrant rights, and workers’ rights, including the right to unionize.

One of President Trump’s first actions was to attack the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB), attempting to paralyze the operations of this important agency by firing a board member — an unprecedented and many argue, illegal move — dismissing their General Counsel, and issuing an Executive Order to destroy their independence.

While the Department of Labor focuses on employment standards and worker protections, the NLRB is an independent agency that ensures that private sector employees have the right to organize a union and engage in collective bargaining.

Have you heard of the National Labor Relations Board and its important role in protecting workers’ rights, including the right to organize? Watch this short video for 3 things YOU need to know. Then keep reading to learn more about their work, and to TAKE ACTION.

The NLRB’s Mission and Work

The NLRB was created in 1935, when Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act, which created a new, independent agency to enforce employee rights, with members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The law gave private sector workers the right to form and join unions, to go on strike, and to collectively bargain for better wages, hours, and working conditions.

The NLRB has the power to safeguard the rights given to employees under the National Labor Relations Act. That includes the right to organize, work with one another to improve working conditions, and choose whether or not to collectively bargain with their employer. The agency ensures workers are protected if they take collective action like discussing their wages and benefits with one another, coming together to talk to the press about their workplace conditions, or refusing, as a group, to do unsafe work. They are also protected from retaliation by their employers for taking part in any of these protected activities.

What makes this agency so essential is that it enforces a legal framework for workers to exercise their collective power in the workplace. When workers organize and gain representation on the job, all workers benefit, especially women, and particularly women of color, by improving wages, closing gender and racial wage gaps, helping families build wealth, securing critical workplace benefits, and providing avenues to address workplace discrimination and harassment.

And when conditions improve in unionized workplaces, it sets a standard that other employers are compelled to follow, to compete for the best talent. So even if you have never been a union member, YOU have benefited from the work of labor unions, and the protections provided by the NLRB.

Want to learn more about the National Labor Relations Board? Take a deeper dive in part 2 of our video, featuring WE’s Chief of Staff, Mary Kay Devine.

So, what’s at risk if the NLRB is no longer independent, or able to fulfill its mission?

• Workers will have less power on the job.
• Employers will have more leeway to discriminate and retaliate against workers who try to organize in their workplace.
• One of the most effective tools in closing the gender wage gap―unionizing―will be in jeopardy.

What can YOU do to make an impact?

Have less than 5 minutes?

• Share this post with your community, and make sure they know about the important work of the National Labor Relations Board. Just hit the share button at the top of the article!

Have 5–10 minutes?

• Call your federal legislators. Demand they protect the NLRB and other important federal agencies, restore their workforces and funding, and ensure they can continue their important work without interference from the administration. Here’s a suggested call script: My name is [NAME], and I live in [CITY, STATE]. As your constituent, I urge you to protect and restore the NLRB, the EEOC, the Women’s Bureau, the OFCCP, and other federal agencies that working families need to survive and thrive. These agencies are critical for enforcing our rights in the workplace and ensuring that ALL working people in America are treated fairly, and that employers are held accountable for discrimination, wage theft, unsafe working conditions, and more. Please protect these critical agencies.
• Don’t know who your officials are, or how to reach them? Here’s a great tool for finding your U.S. Senators and Representative! (And here’s a hot tip: program your legislators’ numbers into your phone to make it even easier to call them! And an even hotter tip: program their local district numbers AND their DC or Springfield numbers as well so that they can hear from you no matter where they are!)
• Today is also the national day of action to tell Congress to protect SNAP — the nation’s most effective anti-hunger program. Use Food Research and Action Coalition’s tool to tell your elected representatives on Capitol Hill that #SNAPMatters. (for background, check out our post on why SNAP and WIC are so critical to our country’s health and wellbeing)
• Sign up for Women Employed’s Action Network. We are constantly monitoring the landscape to help cut through the rhetoric. We’ll email you with concrete actions that will make a difference and we’ll also send new issues of For the Common Good to keep you informed.
• Make a gift to Women Employed to support this work.

Have a half hour?

• Subscribe to our For the Common Good series here on Medium, and visit the landing page on our website.
• While you’re on Medium, read through Women Employed’s recent posts to learn more about the issues.
• Know your local, state, and federal workplace rights―and make sure people in your community do too. And if you’re an immigrant worker, check out your workplace rights as well, courtesy of our partners at Arise Chicago, in English and in Spanish.
• Protect and care for yourself. Our friends at Supermajority have resources to help.

Have 1–2 hours a month?

• Join our Advocacy Council and attend our monthly meetings.

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For the Common Good is a series where Women Employed breaks down the administration’s actions, as well as important issues that impact working women and their families — including the roles and the work of key federal agencies, departments, and programs — and what you can do to make an impact.