News from the National Labor Relations Board

By Alan M. Kaplan

On January 4, 2012, President Obama appointed three new members to the National Labor Relations Board, without waiting for the United States Senate to approve his nominees. The Labor Board will now have a full complement of five members. The three new members are Sharon Block, Terence F. Flynn and Richard F. Griffin. The three new members join Mark Pearce, Chair, who has a background representing unions, and Brian Hayes, who has a background representing management. Craig Becker, viewed by most commentators as pro-union, served until January 3, when his term expired.

Sharon Block was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor. Beginning her career as an attorney with the Labor Board, she represented management at Steptoe & Johnson and later was Senior Labor and Employment Counsel for the Senate Employment and Labor Committee under Senator Kennedy. Terence F. Flynn was previously Chief Counsel to Members Brian Hayes and Peter Schaumber, who have backgrounds representing management. He also was an attorney with three management-oriented labor and employment law firms. Finally, Richard Griffin was most recently General Counsel for International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) after having been an attorney with the Labor Board.

In the meantime, the Labor Board appointed Peter Sung Ohr as the new regional director for the Chicago Regional Office, following the retirement of Joseph Barker in December. Mr. Ohr was born in Seoul, South Korea and has been a long-time attorney with the Labor Board.

For more information about this or any other employment law topic, please contact Alan Kaplan, Chair of the Employment, Labor & Benefits Group, at 847.734.8811 or via email at akaplan@masudafunai.com.