LaborPains.org

Yesterday’s hearing on NLRB nominee Craig Becker was dramatic, contentious fodder for blogs and commentary. The vote is expected on Thursday. Here’s a round-up of some of the best quotes and information:

From the Examiner: “Senate rushing to do favors for Big Labor before Brown is seated”

“Becker would be the first union-employed lawyer to be confirmed by the Senate to the NLRB and is very cozy with and has received many paychecks from big politically active unions like the SEIU and AFL-CIO.”

“Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) repeated a portion of the pledge members of the NRLB must take forbidding participation for two years in any matter in which a former employer is a party. He asked Becker if he would recuse himself from any cases coming before the Board involving Becker’s most recent employer, SEIU. Becker replied, “I will abide, Senator McCain, with the terms of that pledge scrupulously, and as I indicated, if any other matters come up outside of the scope of that pledge where any party might think that I might not be impartial, I will consider the matter…. and if necessary recuse myself from those cases.” McCain told Becker, “That’s not good enough.”

From Bloomberg: “Union Lawyer Becker Says He Will Be ‘Practical’ on Labor Board”

“If confirmed, my decisions, unlike the views of a scholar, will have practical, concrete and important consequences,” he told members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. [...] McCain, who blocked Becker’s nomination last year, said in an interview he may do so again this year.”

Andy Stern may have visited the White House 27 times last year and may consider himself to be unusually close with the Administration, but sometimes he brings the wrath of kings down on his head. Last week, Stern  compared certain respectable Senators to “terrorists“– twice. Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs found himself denouncing Stern’s statements during a press briefing.

Sometimes labor leaders just say the darnedest things:

Q    Thank you, Robert.  Two brief questions.  First, the President was widely praised for the tone that he had with the Republicans, of conciliation and conviviality.  On the other hand, one of his –

MR. GIBBS:  Bill, look it up for me.  (Laughter.)

Q    — major supporters, Andy Stern, of the SEIU, has used some very strong language about Republicans, of one who opposed health care reform, at one point liking them to terrorists.  Is that the kind of talk the President associates with or repudiates?

MR. GIBBS:  I have said this many times in this room about different policy debates.  Nobody should be compared to people that — to the people that have sought to do the world harm through terrorism.  Nobody should be compared to Nazis.  I think in the heat of these debates people tend to get overexcited on both sides of the political spectrum, in both parties, and I think that those types of comments on either side make no sense.

That was such an intense and damaging wrist slap. President Obama may want to follow up with a good stern look next time they meet. FYI, Andy Stern wasn’t any more “overexcited” than normal. Statements like this are pretty much par for the course.

Image courtesy of rightpundits.com.

Tomorrow, Craig Becker, erstwhile nominee to the NLRB, will once again come before the Senate HELP Committee.

Senator McCain successfully placed a hold on Craig Becker’s nomination in the fall, sending his name back to the White House.  In early January a frustrated Obama renominated Craig Becker to the NLRB, and a perturbed McCain called for a formal hearing, which begins tomorrow.  Makes you wonder what’s so special about Craig Becker. But we already know why his nomination is so important.

From the blog in September:

“Craig Becker, who has until now served as Associate General Counsel to the AFL-CIO and the SEIU, is nominated to one of the positions. While we are certain this gives Becker an intimate view of modern labor, his long association with paychecks from labor unions, the now infamous piece he wrote for the Minnesota Law Review in 1993 (which has little kind to say about employers), and even his implied connections to Blagojevich have given groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce something to fret about for months.”

His connections to the unions aren’t a secret.  Here’s an short excerpt from his bio from WhiteHouse.gov:

“Craig Becker currently serves as Associate General Counsel to both the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations.”

The White House saw no need to provide a long bio the second time around.  His most recent biographical information and nomination announcement is limited to the following on WhiteHouse.gov:

“Craig Becker, of Illinois, to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board for the term of five years expiring December 16, 2014, vice Dennis P. Walsh.”

“Of Illinois” is just so …vague. Then again, considering what’s going on with the SEIU and Blago, maybe Illinois is controversial enough for the White House these days.