Labor-board picks face Senate hearing

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama’s newest picks for the National Labor Relations Board sought to assure Senate lawmakers Tuesday that they can be fair and impartial in resolving business-labor disputes, despite backgrounds that include advocating for unions.

The comments came at a hearing for Nancy Schiffer, former associate general counsel to the AFL-CIO, and Kent Hirozawa, chief counsel to the labor board’s chairman. The two were nominated last week as part of a deal in which Republicans agreed to end delaying tactics that blocked some of Obama’s appointments.

They would replace Richard Griffin and Sharon Block, who spent more than a year on the board as recess appointments. A fight over Obama’s decision to make the recess appointments - bypassing the Senate - helped set off the Senate showdown earlier this month over filibusters. The labor board recess appointments have been ruled invalid by three appeals courts, and the Supreme Court has agreed to resolve the dispute.

The hearing was unusual in that Republicans knew that despite whatever complaints they made about the nominees, their confirmation has already been deemed a virtual certainty. As part of their deal with Democrats, Republicans agreed to a quick confirmation process for Schiffer and Hirozawa. In exchange, SenateMajority Leader Harry Reid agreed not to trigger a change in Senate procedures to strip the minority party of its ability to delay votes.

A committee vote is set for today, and the full Senate could vote on their nominations as early as next week.

At the hearing, Republicans refrained from open criticism and instead repeatedly sought assurances that the nominees would not favor union interests over those of the business community.

“What can you say to employers who will come before a board that might include you that you’ve moved from the position of advocate … to an impartial judge?” asked Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

“I appreciate that these are two different roles - advocate and neutral arbiter,” Schiffersaid. “I have no preconceived agenda.”

Hirozawa insisted he has “a very clear understanding of the difference between someone who’s an advocate and someone who is an impartial adjudicator.”

But the business community has examined the nominees warily. The labor board, which resolves disputes between businesses and organized labor, has been a politically charged battleground for years. Republicans assert the board under Obama has been a tool of organized labor, seeking to make rules that would help unions organize new members.

Schiffer spent more than a decade as a top lawyer for the AFL-CIO. She began her career working at the labor board’s Detroit regional office and later worked at the United Auto Workers union, where she became the union’s deputy general counsel.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 07/24/2013

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