House Republicans are demanding an independent investigation into documented allegations that Biden administration officials are illegally interfering in labor union elections.
In an August 15 letter to National Labor Relations Board Chairman Lauren McFerran and General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, the coffee chain Starbucks voiced concerns about NLRB employees allegedly illegally colluding with union bosses to rig elections in favor of unionizing shops.
House Education and Labor Committee Republicans are demanding the board’s inspector general investigate the allegations.
“We request that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) immediately investigate these allegations, protect all whistleblowers from retaliation, and ensure the NLRB is fulfilling its obligations under the law to safeguard the rights of workers to engage in or refrain from organizing activity,” Committee Republicans write in a letter to NLRB Inspector General David Berry.
Starbucks informed McFerran and Abruzzo, Biden administration appointees, that a NLRB whistleblower has documentation, including emails, that NLRB employees were improperly providing election data to union bosses, providing voters with multiple ballots and providing illicit, secret, voting locations to employees hand-picked by union bosses.
According to Committee Republicans:
“Starbucks alleges that certain NLRB officials engaged in the following misconduct:
1) Coordinated with agents of Workers United to arrange for unobserved, in-person voting in NLRB offices during NLRB-ordered mail-ballot elections;
2) Provided these union agents confidential, non-public, real-time information regarding specific vote counts, which enabled Workers United to target and influence employees who had not yet voted;
3) Disenfranchised other employees who were not given the same opportunity to cast in-person votes in NLRB offices;
4) Collaborated with Workers United agents to cover up these actions; and,
5) Collaborated with Workers United to increase the number of votes cast in favor of the union and affect the outcome of elections.”
“[T]he allegations outlined … suggest more widespread problems at the NLRB. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) ensures that workers can freely determine whether they will join a union. Since January 2021, we have conducted oversight regarding the Biden administration’s improper favoritism toward unions,” Committee Republicans write.
“Unfortunately, the allegations outlined above only increase our concerns. Accordingly, we request the OIG not only investigate the allegations in the August 15 Starbucks letter but that it also conduct an audit to review whether the NLRB has been neutral and objective in administering representation elections since January 2021 as required by the NLRA,” Committee Republicans write.
While Starbucks’ letter refers to an election in a Kansas store, Starbucks reports that according to the whistleblower NLRB the tactics are practiced in multiple elections nationwide.
The NLRB is supposed to remain neutral in workplace elections. Union bosses are the top source of campaign cash for Democrats.
Michael Brigham
Michael Brigham has written for American Action News since the summer of 2019. His areas of expertise include foreign affairs, government, and politics, but regardless of the subject matter, he has a nose and an insatiable appetite for news. In his free time, he enjoys reading nonfiction, watching a mix of comedies and true crime documentaries, and spending time away from the swamp hiking in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
