Amazon argues that the National Labor Relations Board is unconstitutional
In the latest sign of a growing backlash from U.S. businesses against the 88-year-old federal agency that enforces labor rights, Amazon argued in a legal filing Thursday that the National Labor Relations Board is unconstitutional .
The move follows a similar argument from SpaceX, the rocket company founded and led by Elon Musk, in a January lawsuit, and Trader Joe’s. during a labor commission hearing few weeks later.
The labor board is a prosecutorial body, which files complaints against employers or unions found to have violated federally protected labor rights; judges, who hear complaints; and a five-member board of directors in Washington, to which decisions can be appealed.
Amazon’s filing was part of a case before an administrative law judge in which labor board prosecutors accused Amazon of unlawfully retaliating against workers at a Staten Island warehouse known as JFK8, who joined a union two years ago.
The company’s lawyers repeatedly denied in their filing that Amazon had broken the law. Then, in a section titled “Other Defenses,” they argued that “the structure of the NLRB violates the separation of powers” by “preventing the executive power provided for in Article II of the Constitution of the United States.
The company also argued that the board or its actions or procedures violated Articles I and III of the Constitution, as well as the Fifth and Seventh Amendments — in the latter case because, according to the filing, the board hearings Boards of Directors may seek legal remedies beyond what is permitted without a jury trial.
Amazon declined to comment.
The claims made in the filing echo arguments SpaceX lawyers made in a federal lawsuit last month, after the labor board filed a complaint accusing the company of illegally firing eight employees for criticizing Mr. Musk. SpaceX filed the lawsuit in Texas, but a federal judge on Thursday granted the board’s request to move the case to California, where the company is headquartered.
In a statement, the board’s general counsel, Jennifer A. Abruzzo, said: “I am pleased that SpaceX’s blatant forum-searching efforts in Texas in an attempt to join the agency’s lawsuit against him have failed. »
Wilma Liebman, labor council chairwoman under President Barack Obama, called Amazon and SpaceX’s arguments “radical,” adding that “the constitutionality of the NLRB was settled nearly 90 years ago by the Supreme Court “.
The arguments appear to align with a broader conservative effort to question the constitutionality of a variety of regulatory measures, some of which have resulted in cases before the Supreme Court.
In January, the Supreme Court also agreed to hear a case brought by Starbucks, which challenges a federal judge’s order reinstating employees fired during a union campaign. The outcome of the case could reinstate the Labor Board’s longstanding practice of seeking reinstatement of workers while their cases are litigated, a process that can take years.