Washington, DC (August 9, 2010)<\/b> \u2013 The National Right to Work Foundation, a charitable organization that provides free legal aid to employees, today asked United States Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct an investigation into National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recess appointee Craig Becker\u2019s participation in cases involving his former employer, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). <\/p>\n
Earlier this summer, Right to Work attorneys filed more than a dozen recusal motions against Becker, who served as associate general counsel for the SEIU and AFL-CIO before he was appointed to the NLRB during a Congressional recess. As the SEIU\u2019s in-house lawyer, Becker litigated against Right to Work Foundation clients and developed legal strategies for SEIU local affiliates across the country. His published writings also indicate a strong level of hostility to the Foundation\u2019s employee-oriented legal aid program.<\/p>\n
Foundation attorneys asked Becker to step aside from any case involving Foundation-assisted workers, the SEIU, or its subordinate affiliates. Despite these apparent conflicts of interest, Becker has refused to recuse himself in every case but one. <\/p>\n
Only the Attorney General or his appropriate designee has the authority under the Executive Order to investigate any violations of the Obama Administration ethics pledge, which Becker signed. The pledge explicitly forbids any appointee from involving themselves with a former employer for no less than two years. <\/p>\n
Becker argues that he may participate in cases involving SEIU affiliates because the national and local unions are \u201cseparate and distinct legal entit[ies].\u201d The SEIU\u2019s own constitution, however, considers local affiliates \u201cconstituent subordinate bodies\u201d of the national union. Moreover, in 2009 over 85 percent of the SEIU\u2019s receipts came from a per capita tax on the locals\u2019 membership dues and fees. The national union even has the power to assume control over its locals if they do not conform to International policies. <\/p>\n
The Foundation\u2019s letter to Holder also notes Becker\u2019s close involvement in the SEIU\u2019s national legal strategy for corralling healthcare workers into unions. Wade Rathke, a former SEIU local union boss and founder of ACORN, praised Becker\u2019s work in this field. As Rathke explained, Becker\u2019s \u201crole was often behind the scenes devising the strategy with the organizers and lawyers, writing the briefs for others to file, and putting all of the pieces together.\u201d Becker\u2019s \u201cseparate legal entity\u201d analysis fails to account for this kind of relationship that actually exists between the SEIU and its local affiliates.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Craig Becker\u2019s shaky analysis stands, the Obama Administration\u2019s much-touted ethics pledge clearly is not worth the paper it is printed on,\u201d said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. \u201cIndependent-minded workers who dare to challenge the SEIU\u2019s coercive practices deserve a fair hearing, but how can they get that from the very same union\u2019s former top lawyer?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington, DC (August 9, 2010)<\/b> \u2013 The National Right to Work Foundation, a charitable organization that provides free legal aid to employees, today asked United States Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct an investigation into National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recess appointee Craig Becker\u2019s participation in cases involving his former employer, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). <\/p>\n
Earlier this summer, Right to Work attorneys filed more than a dozen recusal motions against Becker, who served as associate general counsel for the SEIU and AFL-CIO before he was appointed to the NLRB during a Congressional recess. As the SEIU\u2019s in-house lawyer, Becker litigated against Right to Work Foundation clients and developed legal strategies for SEIU local affiliates across the country. His published writings also indicate a strong level of hostility to the Foundation\u2019s employee-oriented legal aid program.
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