The National Labor Relations Board Union, which represents National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) workers, and AFL-CIO are demanding that Congress increase the agency’s $274 million annual budget by $94 million, for a total of $368 million.
The agency’s own budget request to Congress was only $319 million in 2023 and $301 million in 2022.
A recent AFL-CIO e-mail asked supporters to sign a letter to send to Congress, urging their local congressional representative to increase the NLRB’s budget. The AFL-CIO’s e-mail newsletter claimed that the NLRB is currently underfunded and needs a bigger budget.
The union said, “The NLRB is in a funding crisis and can’t do its job. The agency hasn’t had a budget increase since 2014, which is a 25% budget decrease when you factor in inflation.”
The email added, “Without the NLRB, we can’t hold corporations accountable or build worker power through stronger unions.”
The NLRB is an independent federal agency whose members are appointed by the president. The agency’s primary responsibilities are to conduct elections, investigate charges of unfair labor practices, facilitate settlements, decide cases, enforce court orders, and make federal regulations and rules based on the National Labor Relations Act.
Even with their “budget crisis” the NLRB has continued to monitor, mediate, and settle labor union disputes. The NLRB has been heavily involved in ongoing unionization efforts within Amazon warehouses across the country, such as validating an election in Alabama and issuing a cease and desist order for firing workers at a New York warehouse.