Contact: Gerry Fritz, (703) 812-2062               [email protected]

For Immediate Release  February 13, 2013

Washington, D.C. – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s nomination of Democrats Sharon Block and Richard Griffin to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB):

“The president’s decision to re-nominate Ms. Block and Mr. Griffin to seats they are currently occupying in violation of the United States Constitution is a disappointing signal to employers, employees and unions,” said ABC Vice President of Government Affairs Geoff Burr. “It’s becoming clear that this administration is more interested in playing politics than seating a qualified, impartial slate of board members.

“Seeking approval of these controversial nominees is a counterproductive act that shows contempt for the Senate’s role in providing advice and consent on presidential appointments,” said Burr. “Today’s action by the president reinforces the belief that the Obama administration is more concerned with having the NLRB carry out the narrow policy goals of powerful special interests than it is with having the board play its traditional role as a neutral arbiter of federal labor law.”

Note: On Jan. 25, 2013, The ABC-led Coalition for a Democratic Workplace won a challenge to President Obama’s Jan. 4, 2012, recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the president violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate to fill NLRB vacancies with Democrats Sharon Block and Richard Griffin.

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Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national association with 72 chapters representing 22,000 merit shop construction and construction-related firms. Visit us at www.abc.org.