McConnell pushes NLRB reforms

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vowed that if Republicans take control of the Senate, reforming the National Labor Relations Board would be a top priority.

“Everybody’s familiar with the president’s unconstitutional effort to pack the National Labor Relations Board with liberal partisans in early 2012,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “It’s time to restore balance to the National Labor Relations Board. Let’s take the politics out of it.”

{mosads}McConnell endorsed a bill from Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the NLRB Reform Act.

“It would restore the NLRB to its proper role as an umpire, instead of an advocate for the Right or the Left,” McConnell said. “It’s the kind of thing our constituents want to see us doing: standing up for reform and against entrenched political interests.”

McConnell blasted a recent NLRB decisions about franchises. He said the ruling would “take away independence from small businessmen” in making decisions on how to run their business. 

Alexander said his bill would ensure the board is comprised of three Republicans and three Democrats to stop political decisions from being made.

Republicans need to gain six seats in the midterm election to gain control of the Senate.