WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced legislation today to ensure unbiased due process for American workers and businesses in labor practice complaints. The Protecting American Jobs Act blocks the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from prosecuting and adjudicating cases – returning adjudicatory power to the U.S. Courts where it belongs and eliminating biased court decisions.

“Business disputes should be given a fair trial – not biased decisions from federal bureaucrats cosplaying as judges,” said Senator Mike Lee. “The NLRB should never be allowed to adjudicate the very cases it is prosecuting. My legislation will restore the right to a fair trial for workers and businesses as outlined by the Constitution, providing them due process and protection from biased bureaucrats.” 

Background:

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) currently investigates and adjudicates union representation disputes, unfair labor practice complaints, and contract disputes with federal court review only allowed in limited circumstances. This means that the NLRB acts as investigator, prosecutor, and judge with an unelected and unaccountable membership that turns over every few years – a structure poorly suited to ensure due process for either employees or employers. This bureaucratic and political mess results in delayed complaint resolutions, a damaged economy, and stalled business decisions which in turn stunt job growth.

Congress should return the adjudicatory functions of the NLRB to the U.S. Courts as designed by the Constitution and revoke the Board’s power to prosecute unfair labor practice charges. Under this system, victims of unfair labor practices could still bring forth complaints for the NLRB to investigate, but the power to hear and adjudicate complaint cases would remain with the U.S. Court system, as in the adjudication of all other disputes between private parties. 

Removing the influence of a politically charged federal agency would remove the “thumb on the scale” in these proceedings, providing both workers and businesses with a simplified and unbiased method for resolving disputes and a consistent set of regulations to follow.

The Protecting American Jobs Act:

• Removes the NLRB General Counsel’s power to issue complaints related to unfair labor practices.
• Limits the Board’s rulemaking authority to rules concerning the internal functions of the Board.
• Removes the Board’s power to bring charges of unfair labor practices and to adjudicate those charges and instead provides the Board with the authority to investigate unfair labor practices.
• Moves relief of unfair labor practices to the courts where an aggrieved party may bring a civil action.
• Requires the NLRB to review and revise its regulations to comply with these changes.