Fifth Circuit Court NLRB ruling sides with Elon Musk, weakens workers’ rights

Minneapolis, MN – On August 19, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld orders from a lower court blocking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from proceeding in its complaint against Elon Musk. The NLRB said eight workers’ legal rights were violated when they were fired from Musk’s SpaceX for sharing an open letter criticizing his behavior.

The right to engage in concerted activity has long been protected by the NLRB. The SpaceX workers collectively chose to share a letter criticizing their boss Elon Musk, which falls into the category of protected concerted activity. The NLRB bars employers from any retaliation for this type of activity. As such, Musk’s choice to fire these workers is what the NLRB refers to as an unfair labor practice.

The NLRB has historically been the federal board that is tasked with ruling on these types of cases, as well as enforcing the laws and penalties for violating them.

After the NLRB issued the complaint against SpaceX, Elon Musk, along with other companies who faced similar charges filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the NLRB proceedings on the SpaceX case. While this case may seem narrow in scope, it is being watched closely as it sets precedent for similar rulings and calls the NLRB’s authority to rule into question.

The case alleges that NLRB rulings can be overturned or stopped by courts, and that the NLRB’s authority to rule is unconstitutional, because that members of the NLRB are appointed for set terms, and the members and cannot legally be removed from office during their term by a sitting U.S. president. According to SpaceX and the Fifth Circuit ruling, the set terms of NLRB board members interfere with the president’s power to control executive branch officials.

This case comes after the Supreme Court recently allowed Trump’s firing of NLRB board member Gwynne Wilcox to remain in place while her own lawsuit challenging the removal is in process. Many court watchers see this as a likely sign that the Supreme Court will soon rule that the protections against removal mid term of NLRB board members is unconstitutional, and there is speculation that the NLRB’s existence may be deemed unconstitutional.

For now, the Fifth Circuit’s decision paves the way for court orders against NLRB proceedings to be seen as an appropriate remedy to labor disputes.

What this means right now for workers is that, in at least Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi (the Fifth Circuit’s district), it is highly likely that bosses will be able to win court orders to stop proceedings around any alleged unfair labor practice charge, and other disputes that the NLRB is tasked with ruling on. This ruling allows one more way that employers are being given the green light to violate the long standing labor protections which the NLRB is tasked with upholding.

What is the NLRB?

The National Labor Relations Act was passed in 1935 and oversees labor disputes across the private sector in the U.S. The NLRB was established in 1935 as well, by the Wagner Act, which created the board to enforce the National Labor Relations Act.

The passing of the NLRA and creation of the NLRB came after a long period of intense, and often bloody battles across the U.S. as workers fought to form unions and fight back against exploitation by bosses. Before the NLRA and NLRB existed, the primary tool for workers to exercise their power was through production-stopping strikes to force bosses to negotiate over wages and working conditions. Many bosses would respond by hiring armed muscle in the form of union busters to physically assault strikers and break up strikes. In the 1930s, many large-scale strikes occurred and many violent battles happened as a result.

This period of militant action by workers led to the NLRA and NLRB being put into place in an attempt to help employers avoid the losses of profit associated with these battles by giving workers a legal framework through which to form a union. The NLRB serves both the function of upholding workers’ rights to form a union through a legal process, and bosses interests to avoid production stoppages and loss of profit. The protections for workers in the NLRA are limited in scope and frequently violated by employers when workers form a union. The NLRB that enforces the NLRA is often slow or declines to act, or creates hurdles that make it very hard for workers to win in labor disputes.

This attack on the NLRB’s ability to rule effectively is a significant blow for unions and the workers who want to form unions or exercise their rights through NLRB processes. However, unions and labor struggles have existed since long before the NLRA and much of the U.S. labor movement exists as a result of the organizing and production-stopping strikes, often including violent battles.

It is unclear what this ruling will lead to and what the future of the NLRB may look like. If the NLRB were to be eliminated or weakened significantly enough, it would return the U.S. to a time when battles, like happened in the 1930s, would again be the only way for workers to win wage increases, unions, or contracts. It is unclear whether or not the large corporations and finance capital, or the politicians that they support, actually want to do away fully with the NLRB and risk a return to conditions faced before the NLRA.

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Source: https://fightbacknews.org/fifth-circuit-court-nlrb-ruling-sides-with-elon-musk-weakens-workers-rights?pk_campaign=rss-feed