Published
September 13, 2025
The Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on September 12 reportedly announced that he will sue New York State over a recently enacted law that encroaches on the NLRB’s jurisdiction for resolving labor disputes.
As this blog reported not long ago, several states including New York, California and Massachusetts in recent months have considered legislation seeking to usurp the authority of the NLRB. The rationale for these proposals is that the Board currently lacks a quorum—in fact, there is only one member out of five currently serving—and therefore it cannot act on regulatory issues or adjudicate cases until at least two more members are confirmed
Of the three states, New York was the first to pass a proposal and have the governor sign it into law, which Gov. Kathy Hochul wasted no time in doing on September 5. The legislation provides that the state labor board can step into the shoes of the NLRB in situations where the Board declines jurisdiction or is unable to act. This would include certifying a private sector bargaining unit.
In reality, what this means is that a union trying to organize a workplace in New York state would be able to be recognized as the official bargaining representative for state purposes by having the state labor board bestow recognition instead of the NLRB. Likewise, the state could prosecute unfair labor practices.
The law was passed as a reaction to the NLRB currently being without a functioning quorum. The law directly contradicts long standing precedent that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) preempts any state laws on recognizing unions as official bargaining representatives.
The U.S. Chamber had encouraged the Acting General Counsel to sue, and he is expected to do just that the week of September 15, which one hopes will put a stop to the attempts to enact such end-runs around the NLRB’s authority over labor law.
About the author
Sean P. Redmond
Sean P. Redmond is Vice President, Labor Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
