Labor Board Facing Cuts in House Budget

The National Labor Relations Board could see its budget cut by a fifth under a House spending bill that is likely to pass before the weekend, the Washington Wire blog of the Wall Street Journal reports. But the agency that mediates workplace disputes, and which Republicans charge has become increasingly biased against employers, survived an effort on Thursday to defund it entirely.

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga.

Sixty Republicans joined with 190 Democrats to defeat an NLRB de-funding measure championed by Rep. Tom Price, a Georgia Republican who chairs the House Republican Policy Committee. Price called the NLRB, whose five-member voting board has three Democrats, an “out-of-control agency” that harms job creation.

A budget cut of $50 million is still on the table. NLRB Chairman Wilma Liebman said if it passes, the agency will furlough workers and cut back on activities including conducting union elections and investigating complaints.