Republicans block labor lawyer’s nomination to NLRB
The NLRB is the five-member panel that enforces federal labor law. For more than two years the board has had three vacancies, leaving only two NLRB members to hear and decide cases. If the two sitting board members can agree on a decision, it is issued by the board. If they can't agree on an issue the matter remains sitting in an ever-growing stack of undecided cases.
This situation alone is an absolute disgrace. And yet it gets even worse. Several cases agreed upon by the two sitting NLRB members have been appealed to federal courts on the argument that a quorum of at least three NLRB members is necessary to hear cases and issue rulings. While two different federal courts have disagreed, saying that the two-member NLRB panel's decisions are valid, another federal court has said otherwise. Obviously, the matter will end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court rules that the two-member NLRB decisions are not valid, it will force the full NLRB - when there is a full NLRB - to have to hear those cases over again, greatly adding to a backlog that is already out of control.
That's not all. There doesn't seem to be any hurry in Washington to restore the NLRB to its full, five-member status. President Obama has nominated two highly qualified individuals, both veteran labor lawyers, to fill two of the NLRB vacancies. But Republicans in the U.S. Senate have used every available parliamentary tactic to block those appointments from being confirmed. This has included use of the filibuster.
When Senate Democrats tried to break the filibuster against one of President Obama's appointments, they fell two votes short t. That's because two Democratic Senators, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, sided with Republicans. That means that while a sizeable majority (58 out of 100) of Senators voted to confirm the appointment, a minority of Republicans, doing the bidding of corporations, was able to stop it. As a result, the NLRB remains dysfunctional.
Keep in mind that the NLRB enforces labor laws, much like the EPA enforces environmental laws and the FTC enforces consumer protection laws. In short, NLRB's job is to protect workers' rights. But that's difficult if not impossible to do if the board is operating with only two members instead of the five it should have. Clearly, working men and women need an NLRB that can enforce the National Labor Relations Act - the law that protects workers' rights to join unions and to bargain collectively - not a panel that is hobbled by vacancies and has been found by one federal court to not even be valid.
There is something that President Obama can do to override the obstruction efforts of the Republicans. He can fill the vacancies on the NLRB by making what are called recess appointments. This means that President Obama can make the appointments while Congress is in recess. The appointments would be valid and the NLRB would be able to operate the way in which it was intended.
Going into this week the Republicans were holding up 63 of President Clinton's nominations to various government posts. When the President threatened to begin making recess appointments, the Republicans allowed 27 of the 63 appointments to be confirmed. But to no one's surprise, the NLRB appointments were not included among the nominations the Republicans stopped blocking. This leaves President Obama with the choice of filling the NLR posts through recess appointments in spite of what is sure to be heavy opposition from the Republicans.
President Obama should use his right to make recess appointments to fill the NLRB panel or to at least allow it to have more than its current two members. There is plenty of precedent for this. Both President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton used recess appointments when obstruction took place in the Senate. President Clinton made 139 recess appointments in his eight years in office and President Bush made 177. The working men and women in the U.S. need President Obama to make just a few recess appointments - enough to ensure the functioning of the National Labor Relations Board, the arm of the federal government that is supposed to protect them. Did Your Child Turn Age 19 in 2009? As all union hotel workers know, their children also receive free health and medical coverage. But it is equally important for members to know that eligible children lose their free union health and medical coverage when they are no longer "dependent children" under the terms of the plan. In general, this happens on December 31 of the year they turn age 19, unless they are fulltime college students (in which case they are covered until age 23 as long as they remain full-time students in an accredited college or university and the proper annual paper work confirming their student status has been filed with the Benefit Funds Office).Children can also lose their health coverage earlier than December 31 of the year they turn age 19 - if they get married.
It is important to know that COBRA notification will only be accepted up to 60 days after December 31st of the calendar year your child turns age 19. This means that if any of your dependents turned age 19 last year (2009) and are not full-time college students you only have until the end of this month, February, to enroll them in the Union's COBRA plan.
Parents should consider COBRA as an option if they wish to continue their children's health coverage after they turn age 19.You may also find coverage through a private insurer, or, if your child is a part-time college student, through group health coverage from the school's plan.
If your child is interested in coverage through a private insurer, it is important to know that some private insurers have a waiting period for certain types of coverage. It is also important to know that in a situation like this the Funds Office can give your child a certificate that can allow the waiting period to be waived. In either case, your child should make arrangements for coverage as soon as possible. That's because a 63-day or longer break in coverage allows a private insurer to impose a pre-existing condition rule.
If your child is in college, he or she may be eligible for a school coverage plan. It would be wise to contact your child's school (ask for the Dean of Students) to learn what kind of coverage is available, since most colleges have very good and quite economical student health plans. In fact, some student plans cost even less than COBRA coverage, because they mostly cover young people. Before you buy this type of plan, however, you should find out what services are excluded, the amount of the deductible and if there are any waiting periods. And, of course, you should remember that if your child is a full-time college student in an accredited college or university and the proper annual paper work confirming their student status has been filed with the Benefit Funds Office, they are eligible for free coverage through your plan up to December 31 of the year they turn 23, as long as they maintain eligibility status.
The other option is for your child to continue his or her union coverage by enrolling in the union's COBRA program. The COBRA plan has several distinct advantages over other types of coverage. There are no waiting periods for coverage. Also, COBRA coverage permits your children to continue to receive the services they are familiar with and to see the doctors they already know through the union's Health Centers. In addition, COBRA is a non-profit group plan, so it is economical.
If you have a child who might be interested in COBRA coverage, remember that you or your child must notify the COBRA Plan that he or she has lost dependent status. By law, this notification must be made within 60 days of the event that caused the loss of this status.
As noted earlier, it is important to know that COBRA notification will only be accepted up to 60 days after December 31st of the calendar year your child turned age 19, or 60 days after your child's marriage date. After the plan is notified, it will send your child more information. The union's COBRA Plan Administrator is located at 305 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036, and can be reached at (212) 586-6400.
Even if your child is not sure what kind of coverage he or she wants, it is a good idea to contact the COBRA Plan before the notification deadline. Timely notification does not commit you to anything, but it temporarily protects your child's right to enroll. Keeping your options open and getting as much information as possible will help you and your child make the best decision regarding coverage. And please remember that if any of your children and/or dependents turned age 19 during the year 2009 and are not fulltime college students you only have until the end of this month to enroll them in COBRA.
