President Obama Re-Nominates Union Attorney Becker for NLRB

In a move reaffirming the Obama administration's continued support of organized labor, President Obama resubmitted the nomination of union attorney Craig Becker to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board on January 20, 2010. Becker has been an associate general counsel for the Service Employees International Union for 18 years and a staff counsel for the AFL-CIO for six years.

In July 2009, President Obama sought to fill the three board vacancies by submitting nominations for Becker, Brian Hayes and Mark Pearce, another union attorney. The Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee approved the nominations, but Becker's nomination was sent back to the White House at the end of the 2009 Senate session. The Senate held over Pearce and Hayes for the 2010 session. Senate Democratic leaders have previously indicated that they will only vote on the three board nominees if they were presented as a package.

If all three nominees are confirmed, the board will consist of a Democratic majority for the first time since 2001.