Legal
NLRB, Amazon Sue New York State Over Labor Law
A new law in New York that allows the New York State Public Employment Relations Board, located in the Albany-based state government complex seen here, to handle some actions that would normally fall under the National Labor Relations Board is facing legal challenges.
With the National Labor Relations Board lacking a quorum, New York state legislators passed a law this year authorizing the state’s Public Employment Relations Board’s to certify private-industry union bargaining representatives when the NLRB does not assert its own jurisdiction. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed the first-in-the-nation law earlier this month, and now the NLRB and online retailer Amazon are separately suing to contest it.
In its complaint, NLRB says the state law “creates a parallel regulatory system that undermines the federal labor policy Congress designed to be national in scope.” NLRB argues that it has exclusive authority to prevent unfair labor practices affecting commerce under the National Labor Relations Act.
“While we respect the important role states play in protecting businesses and workers in other areas, the NLRB has exclusive jurisdiction over unfair labor practices in the private sector; legislation like this cannot be reconciled with the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution,” NLRB Acting General Counsel William Cowen said in a statement.
Amazon also filed a federal lawsuit against the New York State Public Employment Relations Board Sept. 22 in Brooklyn seeking to prevent it from asserting authority over a case involving the company.
NLRB has lacked a quorum after President Donald Trump removed board member Gwynne Wilcox from her five-year term. Wilcox has sought reinstatement to the board, though in May the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration.
State Rep. Harry Bronson, a Rochester Democrat who sponsored the bill in the New York State Assembly, said the law “sets in place meaningful protections at the state-level that counteract the Trump administration's attack on workers and the middle class.”
Unions supported the legislation. In a statement, Mario Cilento, president of New York State AFL-CIO praised the action “to ensure a fair process and protect the rights of working people.” But the Associated General Contractors of New York State opposed the bill. Mike Elmendorf, president and CEO of AGC NYS said they expect the law won’t survive a legal challenge.
“I appreciate the politics of why the bill was advanced and became law, but the NLRB is the arbiter of what’s going on in this space and, if you end up with competing jurisdictions, you end up with confusion and problems for not just contractors, but employers of all types,” Elmendorf said.
Lawmakers in Massachusetts have considered similar legislation, and the California legislature sent a similar bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) this week. That measure is still waiting on his signature.
In August, Cowen issued a statement addressing the issue. He said NLRB’s work “has largely been unaffected by the temporary absence of a board quorum” as regional offices are continuing to process cases. Most cases are processed without requiring a board decision, he added.
NLRB is asking a judge to declare the New York law invalid and block the state from enforcing it.
“Beyond the fact that this legislation is unmistakably preempted, attempts such as this only create confusion, waste employees’ time, delay the ultimate resolution of labor disputes, and drive up costs for businesses, which in turn will divert resources that may otherwise be used to invest in their employees or create new jobs,” Cowen said in a statement.
A representative for Gov. Hochul said they cannot comment on pending litigation. The governor signed the bill into law on Sept. 5 as part of a legislative package focused on worker protections.
“While the Trump administration has failed to prioritize a strong National Labor Relations Board and is dismantling unions left and right, here in New York we are taking strong action to protect worker rights and sending a clear message that we will always have the backs of New York’s workers,” she said at the time.
New York has not yet filed a formal response to the suit, which NLRB filed in the northern New York U.S. district court. A Binghamton-based federal magistrate judge has scheduled an initial conference in the case for Dec. 17.
