Bipartisan Group of 265 Lawmakers Urge Trump to Reinstate NLRB Member Wilcox, Protect Workers’ Rights

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Labor Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Steven Horsford (D-NV), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), and Debbie Dingell (D-MI), alongside Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), led a bipartisan group of 265 Members of Congress — including every single House and Senate Democrat — to call on President Trump to immediately reinstate National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Member Gwynne Wilcox. The lawmakers called on the president to restore the NLRB’s ability to protect the rights of American workers to organize and collectively bargain, which have already been impaired by understaffing at the agency and now are effectively lost by the lack of quorum on the NLRB.

“We are writing to express our deep frustration at the unprecedented and illegal firing of National Labor Relations Board Member Gwynne Wilcox and the negative impact this will have on working people across the country,” wrote the lawmakers. “This firing violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), renders the Board unable to effectively enforce federal labor law, and profoundly undermines the independence of the agency.”

Congress created the NLRB nearly 90 years ago as an independent, non-partisan federal agency to protect workers nationwide by enforcing the NLRA, which guarantees the rights of workers to join together in collective action, including by organizing unions, negotiating contracts, and going on strike. The lawmakers highlighted the specific federal statute that restricts the president’s ability to remove NLRB members for reasons other than neglect of duty or malfeasance, and they clarify that Wilcox’s firing without a hearing nor cause expressly violated that law.

“Workers rely on the NLRB to safeguard their rights to organize and collectively bargain to better their working conditions,” continued the lawmakers. “However, by firing Member Wilcox and leaving the five-seat NLRB with only two Members, you have left the Board without a quorum and effectively shut down its decision-making ability. This simply encourages bad employers to violate the law and trample on workers’ rights, while workers subjected to illegal union-busting will face significant delays in receiving the justice to which they are entitled.”

Because of Trump’s firing of Wilcox, grocery store workers in Philadelphia have already seen their labor rights eroded as large corporations are allowed to violate labor law with no recourse available for their employees. After Whole Foods workers voted overwhelmingly to form a union, the company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, is “attempting to exploit some of the disruption Trump has caused,” according to the Washington Post, by not abiding by the outcome of the union election.

“We urge you to reverse your decision and to immediately reinstate Member Wilcox to the NLRB to ensure that working people are afforded the protections to which they are entitled under the law,” concluded the lawmakers.”

A full copy of the letter can be found here. The letter was signed by every single House and Senate Democrat, as well as Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA).