Dear Senator:
The AFL-CIO urges you to vote in favor of Sharon Block’s nomination to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) when her nomination comes before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions for a vote.
Ms. Block is superbly qualified to serve – again -- as a member of the NLRB. Block’s entire legal career has focused on labor and employment law. Early in her career, she worked as a career attorney at the NLRB, where, among other positions, she worked as counsel to the NLRB Chairman and handled important appellate litigation for the agency. Ms. Block subsequently worked as counsel to the HELP Committee under former Senator Kennedy’s leadership, and then as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor.
In late 2011, President Obama nominated Block to a seat on the NLRB, and in January 2012, the President made recess appointments of Block and two others to the NLRB so that the Board could maintain a functioning quorum. In July 2012, as part of a bi-partisan agreement to confirm a full package of nominees to the NLRB, Block’s nomination was withdrawn.
In accepting a recess appointment to the NLRB, Ms. Block answered the President’s call to public service, and she fulfilled her oath of office to faithfully perform the functions of her office during her tenure. The suggestion made by some during Ms. Block’s confirmation hearing that she somehow acted improperly by not resigning her recess appointment while the constitutional issues were being litigated would be laughable if it was not so offensive to Ms. Block’s integrity and dedication to the agency and law she swore to uphold.
Block served with distinction during her time as a recess appointee to the NLRB and she has continued her work in public service for the past year as Senior Counsel to the Secretary of Labor. Block brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the position and a deep understanding of the issues facing workers, unions, and employers today. She is supremely qualified to serve on the Board, and we urge her confirmation without delay.
Sincerely,
William Samuel, Director
Government Affairs Department