Kurt Larkin Testifies Before House Subcommittee on Urgent Need To Restore Balance to NLRB

On Tuesday, February 14, partner Kurt G. Larkin testified at a hearing of the US House Committee on Education & the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, titled “Restoring Balance and Fairness to the National Labor Relations Board.” The hearing was focused on the National Labor Relations Board’s overreaching actions and policy changes over the past eight years, which have put the interests of union leaders over the interests of workers and American business.

Larkin, the first witness to testify at the hearing before the Subcommittee, discussed NLRB issues on joint employer standards, “ambush” union elections and micro-unions, and called for the House to re-examine certain precedents and consider modifying certain definitions in the National Labor Relations Act.

“We’re not asking the Board to be pro-business. We’re just asking that it not be anti-business,” Larkin said. “Unfortunately and in contrast to the modest and gradual changes we’ve seen back and forth over the years, the Board over the past eight years has produced some of the most drastic and one-sided policy changes in its history and, in almost every instance, these changes have brought substantial hardships on the business community.”

For additional information, read Larkin’s written testimony.

media coverage

• Kurt Larkin, quoted, “Congressional Republicans Call for Reform at NLRB,” SHRM, February 17, 2016
• Kurt Larkin, quoted, “House Republicans eye right to work, joint employment at hearing on NLRB, Reuters Legal, February 14.
• Kurt Larkin, quoted, “Review of NLRB Precedents in Order, House Panel Hears,” Law360, February 14.