Senate Confirms NLRB Members Pearce and Hayes

By Ted Olsen

Last month, we reported on President Obama's creation of a quorum on the National Labor Relations Board with his "recess appointment" of two Members of the Board, Craig Becker, former Associate General Counsel for the Service Employees' International Union and the AFL-CIO, and Mark Pearce, a former union-side lawyer from Buffalo, New York.  While both Becker and Pearce had been nominated by the President for Board Member posts, they had not been confirmed by the Senate.  Recess appointments do not call for Senate confirmation, and therefore, the recess appointments effectively circumvented the Senate logjam.  The President did not give a recess appointment to a third blocked nominee, Brian Hayes, a former management attorney and Republican.    

On June 22, 2010, the Senate, however, confirmed the nominations of Pearce and Hayes.  Pearce's term shall run through August 27, 2013.  Hayes' term shall run through December 16, 2012.  The Senate has not taken any action with regard to Becker, whose recess appointment remains unaffected by these confirmations.

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©2010 Sherman & Howard L.L.C.                                                        July 7, 2010