The right to engage in concerted activity has long been protected by the NLRB. The SpaceX workers collectively chose to share a letter criticizing their boss Elon Musk, which falls into the category of protected concerted activity. The NLRB bars employers from any retaliation for this type of activity. As such, Musk’s choice to fire these workers is what the NLRB refers to as an unfair labor practice.

The NLRB has historically been the federal board that is tasked with ruling on these types of cases, as well as enforcing the laws and penalties for violating them.

After the NLRB issued the complaint against SpaceX, Elon Musk, along with other companies who faced similar charges filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the NLRB proceedings on the SpaceX case. While this case may seem narrow in scope, it is being watched closely as it sets precedent for similar rulings and calls the NLRB’s authority to rule into question.

The case alleges that NLRB rulings can be overturned or stopped by courts, and that the NLRB’s authority to rule is unconstitutional, because that members of the NLRB are appointed for set terms, and the members and cannot legally be removed from office during their term by a sitting U.S. president. According to SpaceX and the Fifth Circuit ruling, the set terms of NLRB board members interfere with the president's power to control executive branch officials.

This case comes after the Supreme Court recently allowed Trump's firing of NLRB board member Gwynne Wilcox to remain in place while her own lawsuit challenging the removal is in process. Many court watchers see this as a likely sign that the Supreme Court will soon rule that the protections against removal mid term of NLRB board members is unconstitutional, and there is speculation that the NLRB’s existence may be deemed unconstitutional.

For now, the Fifth Circuit’s decision paves the way for court orders against NLRB proceedings to be seen as an appropriate remedy to labor disputes.

What this means right now for workers is that, in at least Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi (the Fifth Circuit’s district), it is highly likely that bosses will be able to win court orders to stop proceedings around any alleged unfair labor practice charge, and other disputes that the NLRB is tasked with ruling on. This ruling allows one more way that employers are being given the green light to violate the long standing labor protections which the NLRB is tasked with upholding.

What is the NLRB?

The National Labor Relations Act was passed in 1935 and oversees labor disputes across the private sector in the U.S. The NLRB was established in 1935 as well, by the Wagner Act, which created the board to enforce the National Labor Relations Act.

The passing of the NLRA and creation of the NLRB came after a long period of intense, and often bloody battles across the U.S. as workers fought to form unions and fight back against exploitation by bosses. Before the NLRA and NLRB existed, the primary tool for workers to exercise their power was through production-stopping strikes to force bosses to negotiate over wages and working conditions. Many bosses would respond by hiring armed muscle in the form of union busters to physically assault strikers and break up strikes. In the 1930s, many large-scale strikes occurred and many violent battles happened as a result.

This period of militant action by workers led to the NLRA and NLRB being put into place in an attempt to help employers avoid the losses of profit associated with these battles by giving workers a legal framework through which to form a union. The NLRB serves both the function of upholding workers’ rights to form a union through a legal process, and bosses interests to avoid production stoppages and loss of profit. The protections for workers in the NLRA are limited in scope and frequently violated by employers when workers form a union. The NLRB that enforces the NLRA is often slow or declines to act, or creates hurdles that make it very hard for workers to win in labor disputes.

This attack on the NLRB’s ability to rule effectively is a significant blow for unions and the workers who want to form unions or exercise their rights through NLRB processes. However, unions and labor struggles have existed since long before the NLRA and much of the U.S. labor movement exists as a result of the organizing and production-stopping strikes, often including violent battles.

It is unclear what this ruling will lead to and what the future of the NLRB may look like. If the NLRB were to be eliminated or weakened significantly enough, it would return the U.S. to a time when battles, like happened in the 1930s, would again be the only way for workers to win wage increases, unions, or contracts. It is unclear whether or not the large corporations and finance capital, or the politicians that they support, actually want to do away fully with the NLRB and risk a return to conditions faced before the NLRA.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Labor #Musk #NLRB #NLRA #Feature

Green Bay, WI – On Sunday, March 30, hundreds gathered in the bitter cold and rain outside of the KI Convention center to protest Elon Musk’s visit to campaign for Supreme Court Candidate Brad Schimel. Schimel, a reactionary Republican attorney general, has campaigned on reintroducing a 1849 law banning abortion statewide, repealing same sex marriage and enforcing Trump’s attacks on the working class.

Schimel’s campaign has garnered support from the Trump administration. Ahead of the April 1 Supreme Court election, Elon Musk has been offering $100 to people who vote, further offering $1 million prizes to “lucky winners” in the state of Wisconsin leading up to the election.

Musk is instrumental in the Trump administration’s attacks on federal workers and unions.

The people of Green Bay showed out in force and numbers to denounce Musk. Multiple organizations, including Service Employees International Union, Working Families Power, Students for a Democratic Society and Democratic Socialists of America were in attendance.

The protest went on for hours, Chants such as “Nazis suck” and “Wisconsin is not for sale” echoed across Main Street in Green Bay. Despite the inclement weather and large presence of Musk and Schimel supporters, the residents of Green Bay stood resolute. Working people know that money for voting is not the same as their needs being met. Protesters carried signs reading, “$100 to vote, but no increase in minimum wage?”

This protest is the first of its kind in Green Bay in a long time. The large turnout was inspiring to many of the new activists in attendance and sent a powerful message that the people of Green Bay will not be bought out.

Since Trump’s inauguration, the people's movements have grown in Green Bay, with actions happening multiple times a week. The people of Green Bay will continue to stand up to fight the reactionary Republican agenda.

#GreenBayWI #WI #PeoplesStruggles #Trump #Musk #Feature

Tallahassee, FL – Over 150 Tallahasseans assembled at the Florida State Capitol, February 17, to rally against Donald Trump and the outsized role of billionaire union-buster Elon Musk. Responding to an online call for nationwide protests known as “50501,” it was the second such rally, following an all-day action two weeks prior.

The event was organized by a coalition of local groups, and featured speakers from Students for a Democratic Society, Food Not Bombs, Equality Florida, the Tallahassee Community Action Committee, the Industrial Workers of the World, Dream Defenders, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Most of the crowd faced the intersection of Apalachee Parkway and Monroe Street with signs, drawing supportive honking from drivers. Some had gotten there five hours early to protest and stayed there until the event ended. Even at the home of the most far-right state governments in the country, Trump and Musk’s unprecedented attacks on millions of Americans have brought out hundreds since the inauguration to stand up and fight back.

“Trump played on the real fears of working people in America, promising peace and prosperity, but we know that he’s only intensifying the war on oppressed people worldwide,” said Joelle Nuñez from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Protesters paid special attention to the power and influence held by Elon Musk, condemning the Trump administration for empowering an unelected billionaire to slash federal spending and lay off thousands of employees.

“Despite the fact that Elon Musk has never been a public official, he was appointed to an office that Trump created which now has more control over our government than any one man should,” said Kingsley Early from Tallahassee SDS.

Robert Lee from Food Not Bombs Tallahassee, a local mutual aid organization, stated, “Mutual aid work like this is small, and is never enough to tackle the enormous social problems that are the inevitable byproduct of a capitalist free market system, but they are absolutely necessary, even essential. Every time your hands do the work – good, kind work – you are making the world a materially better place, even for just one person. That’s not only a kindness to others, it’s a gift to yourself.”

#TallahasseeFL #FL #PeopleStruggles #Trump #Musk