Senate Confirms NLRB Appointments

The U.S. Senate voted yesterday to confirm all of President Obama’s nominees to the NLRB.  The Democratic nominees were confirmed on a roll call vote, while the Republican nominees were confirmed on a voice vote.  Thus, for the first time in nearly a decade, the NLRB will have five full members, all confirmed by the Senate.

The recently confirmed nominees to the NLRB are:

• Chairman Mark Pearce (D).  Chairman Pearce has served on the NLRB since March 2010.
• Member Kent Hirozawa (D).  President Obama nominated Member Hirozawa recently as a result of the compromise that allowed yesterday’s vote to proceed.  Member Hirozawa most recently served as chief counsel to Chairman Pearce.
• Member Nancy Jean Schiffer (D).  Member Schiffer was President Obama’s other recent nomination.  Member Schiffer retired last year from her position as associate general counsel for the AFL-CIO.
• Member Philip Miscimarra (R).  Member Miscimarra was nominated earlier this year, and most recently was a partner at Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius where he represented management in labor law issues.
• Member Harry Johnson III (R).  Member Johnson was nominated earlier this year, and most recently was a partner at Arent Fox where he represented management in labor law issues.

For those in Ohio who are interested in how their Senators voted in the roll call votes on the Democratic nominees, Senator Brown (D) voted in favor of all the nominees.  Senator Portman (R) voted in favor of Chairman Pearce, but against Members Hirozawa and Schiffer.

For labor professionals, the vote removes the air of uncertainty that had plagued NLRB actions for some time.  One effort that may particularly benefit from the confirmation of five full members is the rulemaking activity on the union election process, which the NLRB had previously left unfinished.