IWS Documented News Service _______________________________ Institute for Workplace Studies-----------------Professor Samuel B. Bacharach School of Industrial & Labor Relations--------Director, Institute for Workplace Studies Cornell University 16 East 34th Street, 4th floor----------------------Stuart Basefsky New York, NY 10016-------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau ________________________________________________________________________

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

ESSAY Decline and Disenchantment: Reflections on the Aging of the National Labor Relations Board Wilma B. Liebman† http://www.nlrb.gov/shared_files/Press%20Releases/2007/6_Liebman_PDF_11_29_0... [full-text, 22 pages]

In this Essay, the senior member of the National Labor Relations Board reflects on the aging of American labor law and the agency that administers it. In her view, the National Labor Relations Act, which has not been updated in 60 years, is now out of sync with a transformed economy. Meanwhile, the Board, even accounting for the statutory, judicial and political constraints under which it operates, has failed in its duty to apply the statute dynamically. The author suggests, however, that the stakes are too high to abandon hope for a revitalization of labor law and policy.

I. INTRODUCTION..............................................................................570

II. HOW TIME TARNISHED THE ACT...................................................572 III. HOW THE BOARD HAS COMPOUNDED ITS CONSTRAINTS.............576 A. What Constrains the Board......................................................576 B. How the Board Has Lost Its Way and Its Will..........................579 IV. WHAT COMES NOW?.....................................................................588

______________________________ This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

**************************************** Stuart Basefsky Director, IWS News Bureau Institute for Workplace Studies Cornell/ILR School 16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10016

Telephone: (607) 255-2703 Fax: (607) 255-9641 E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu ****************************************