After senators blocked the reconfirmation of Lauren McFerran as chair of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler released the following statement:
Today, 50 senators didn’t just vote against Lauren McFerran’s reconfirmation—they voted against the working people of this country. Make no mistake: This vote had nothing to do with stopping Chair McFerran’s renomination and everything to do with reversing generations of progress workers have made toward building a fairer and more just economy.
The NLRB is the only government agency that protects workers’ fundamental freedom to stand up to powerful companies by organizing a union and bargaining collectively on the job. Without every NLRB seat filled, the board cannot keep up with the historic rate of worker organizing or the escalating union-busting we see from bosses every day. The NLRB faces relentless intimidation and threats from the very corporations and wealthy bosses the agency is tasked with holding accountable—none more notable than Elon Musk, who’s teamed up with other billionaires to try to dissolve the board rather than respect workers’ rights on the job. As Musk prepares for a role at the top of the incoming Trump administration, the NLRB urgently needed McFerran reconfirmed to ensure that working people can rely on the board when massive companies violate our basic rights.
Corporate lobbyists and anti-union politicians may have stopped this vote today, but they won’t stop workers from organizing. The 13 million working people of the AFL-CIO will continue to have working people’s backs. The labor movement was born out of the fight for the very rights the NLRB protects, and we won’t stop until every single worker in America has a fair and free shot to join a union and better our lives.
Contact: Mia Jacobs, 202-637-5018