As readers of this blog know, the Senate recently confirmed five members on the NLRB. The compromise that permitted the confirmation vote to move forward required that President Obama withdraw his nominations of two individuals who were serving recess appointments on the NLRB, Members Griffin (D) and Block (D). For one of those individuals, the trip to his next post may not be a long one.
On Thursday last week, President Obama nominated Member Griffin to serve as the NLRB’s General Counsel. He will replace the current Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon, who will retire from the NLRB. Like members of the NLRB, the General Counsel, who serves as the "prosecutor" in unfair labor practice proceedings and is responsible for the operation of the NLRB’s regional offices throughout the country, must be confirmed by the Senate. The Senate had never acted on Mr. Solomon’s nomination, and he has served in the "acting" capacity for more than three years pursuant to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
Mr. Solomon gained particular notoriety when he pursued an unfair labor practice complaint against Boeing after it transferred an airplane production line from a union facility in Washington to a non-union facility in South Carolina.
For her part, Member Block will have to travel a little bit further for her next post. She will return to a position at the Department of Labor, where she worked immediately before her recess appointment to the NLRB.