Donald Trump has fired a senior official at the top US labor watchdog, triggering a chorus of criticism from unions and in effect paralyzing the body until a replacement is confirmed.
Gwynne Wilcox, a member and former chair of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), described her dismissal as “unprecedented and illegal” and pledged to challenge the move.
Her removal leaves the board with only two members, and leaves it without a quorum of three members required to issue decisions, per a 2010 supreme court ruling.
Wilcox was confirmed by the Senate, and her term was due to continue until August 2028. She had been appointed chair of the NLRB by Biden last month, before Trump appointed Marvin Kaplan, a Republican-appointed member, as chair last week.
“It’s been an honor to serve as a Board Member and Chair of the National Labor Relations Board,” Wilcox said in a statement. “As the first Black woman Board Member, I brought a unique perspective that I believe will be lost upon my unprecedented and illegal removal. Throughout my time at the NLRB, I’ve worked well with my colleagues and the dedicated career staff who uphold the mission of the Agency. I will be pursuing all legal avenues to challenge my removal, which violates long-standing Supreme Court precedent.”
The NLRB’s general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, was also fired. The deputy general counsel, Jessica Rutter, is now serving as acting general counsel.
On Abruzzo’s watch, several corporations – including Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and Amazon – have challenged the constitutionality of the NLRB, based on limitations of the president’s ability to remove members of the board.
The National Labor Relations Act authorizes the president to remove members of the board only under narrow circumstances of negligence of duty or malfeasance, which has typically left board members to serve out their terms during presidential administration changes.
The NLRB “accomplished so much through our robust education, protection, and enforcement efforts,” Abruzzo said in a statement. “There’s no putting that genie back in the bottle.
“So, if the Agency does not fully effectuate its Congressional mandate in the future as we did during my tenure, I expect that workers with assistance from their advocates will take matters into their own hands in order to get well-deserved dignity and respect in the workplace, as well as a fair share of the significant value they add to their employer’s operations.”
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the US, representing 61 national and international unions, said: “President Trump’s firing of NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox, the first Black woman to serve on the board, is illegal and will have immediate consequences for working people.”
Trump’s decision “has effectively shut down” the NLRB’s operations, Shuler said, “leaving the workers it defends on their own in the face of union-busting and retaliation”.
“These moves will make it easier for bosses to violate the law and trample on workers’ legal rights on the job and fundamental freedom to organize,” she added.
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, the country’s biggest union, described the firing of Wilcox as a “gross abuse of power” which should alarm “anyone who is not a CEO or billionaire”.
“NLRB’s rulings on important worker rights and organizing cases will grind to a halt,” said Pringle. “Trump is giving a gift to his donors, and we are all paying the price. Every member of Congress has an obligation to tell President Trump that they will not tolerate this kind of imperial declaration.”
