Stalled Cases and Strained Staff: Trump’s NLRB Gives Workers Little Recourse

The National Labor Relations Board still doesn’t have a quorum, creating a dead end for appealed unfair labor practice cases.

NLRB

Jon Elswick/AP

Empty seats on the National Labor Relations Board are stalling the most contentious cases around unfair labor practices, leaving many workers without means to hold their employers accountable.

President Donald Trump fired board member Gwynne Wilcox in January — before her term was set to expire in 2028 — leaving the board without a three-member quorum necessary to resolve cases. Now, those stalled cases are adding to the NLRB’s backlog, former employees of the agency said.

Appealing an unfavorable order from the agency’s lower courts has become a way to delay cases indefinitely.