EDITORIAL: Manchin and Obama Lose in Court Over Big Labor Power Grab

The new rule would have made it much easier for Big Labor to establish more union shops by limiting the amount of time required for employers to make their case to workers.

Ironically, this rule designed to circumvent proper procedure was cancelled because the court found that the NLRB itself did not use proper procedure in promulgating the new rule. Simply put, the court found that no quorum was present as those backing the new regulation tried to ram through their favor for Big Labor. 

As a result, worksite labor elections must now continue under traditional procedures, a temporary victory for employers.

The new rule was a dramatic attempt to effect one of the biggest changes in unionization elections in years.  Employers would have been denied the ability to complete a legal challenge to a private-sector union.

We have a hard time believing that neither President Obama nor Senator Manchin were unaware of the way this new NLRB regulation was pushed through without a quorum.  But this is an election year, and both men want to appease their Big Labor chums, apparently regardless of whether basic legal procedure has been steamrolled in the process.

What is striking about this case is that Senator Manchin had been trying so hard to convince West Virginia voters that he was both pro-small business and increasingly independent of the Obama Administration. 

Yet when no one is looking, Senator Manchin reverts to form and backs the President and his NLRB in a transparent Big Labor power grab.

Let's face it:  Senator Manchin is scrambling for re-election support anywhere he can this year. His voting for this deeply-flawed Big Labor regulation proves it as nothing else can. 

This new regulation would have penalized small businesses across West Virginia by not giving them the fair shot they've always had at giving their workers their side before a union vote.  These small businesses would have paid a steep price just so that Senator Manchin could appease his Big Labor pals.

Through this controversial vote, Senator Manchin has signalled that he represents Big Labor's latest whims more than basic fairness for small business across West Virginia, even during an economic downturn when jobs are scarce.  That's chilling.

Maybe Senator Manchin is angling for an appointment to the next NLRB in the event that he loses this November.