Philip A. Miscimarra Tapped By Trump to Lead NLRB

Outspoken National Labor Relations Board member Philip A. Miscimarra was named as acting chairman of the National Labor Relations Board by President Donald Trump.

Miscimarra, who was named to the panel by President Barack Obama in 2013, is the board’s lone Republican. He will take over the chairmanship from Mark Gaston Pearce.

Before his appointment to the NLRB as an attorney in Chicago with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, he co-chaired the firm’s practice in employment, labor and benefits. The appointment of Miscimarra, who often was at odds with fellow NLRB panelists, was endorsed by a fellow Chicago labor attorney.

Please also read: Philip Miscimarra Is Mad as Hell, and You Should Be, Too!

“The appointment of Phil Miscimarra as chair of the NLRB is the first step in a process of returning the board to balancing the rights of employees with the legitimate interests of employers as set forth in the National Labor Relations Act,” said Michael Lotito, co-chair of Littler Mendelson’s Workplace Policy Institute, in a statement. “Over the past five years, the NLRB has reversed over 4,500 years of precedent, often over the dissent of Miscimarra, as explained in a recent WSJ editorial. Now the new administration must appoint two new members to the board to fill the vacancies that now exist. Only then, with the board at full strength, will the board be able to tackle critical workplace issues needing a reasoned resolution.”

Rick Bell is Workforce’s editorial director. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.