[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 27, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S993]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     National Labor Relations Board

  Mr. President, on another matter, last week, the Biden administration 
leftwing majority on the National Labor Relations Board issued a ruling 
in a case with far-reaching consequences for free speech. The decision 
had its roots in a quest by the Board's activist General Counsel to 
appease the core democratic alliance of Big Labor and progressive 
activists. This comes after President Biden fired her predecessor just 
moments after his inauguration.
  The facts of the case are simple. An employer terminated an employee 
for violating a content-neutral company dress code that prohibited 
employees from displaying causes or political messages unrelated to 
workplace matters. The employee refused to comply and was fired. 
Breaking decades of precedent, the NLRB now says that the employer was 
wrong to do so and must rehire the employee and provide backpay.
  For decades, American labor law maintained important and fairly 
straightforward speech protections. At work, employees have the right 
to speak about work; that is, employees have the right to ``concerted'' 
activities in the workplace when they relate to wages, hours, and 
working conditions. They can also work together to form or join a 
union. But these protections included a clear distinction between labor 
advocacy and political agitation. People have the right to say what 
they want on their own time, but our labor law only protects political 
activity or slogans that are a ``logical outgrowth'' of speech related 
to wages, hours, and working conditions.
  Well, this particular NLRB apparently sees no daylight between 
activism for leftwing political causes and advocacy connected to 
working conditions. In a fit of wokeness, the Biden administration's 
regulators managed to throw out decades of careful distinctions 
designed to protect employees, employers, and customers alike.
  So progressive political messages may now be protected by Federal 
labor law, but does the road go both ways? The next time someone gets 
fired for donating to a conservative cause, will those same 
progressives leap to his defense? I wouldn't hold my breath.
  The decision will have even more consequences for employers. 
Employers will have to associate themselves with the politics of their 
employees or else face rebuke from Federal labor regulators.
  This is government-mandated speech, and it is antithetical to our 
free speech jurisprudence and principles. It continues an alarming 
trend on the left: empowering the government to choose which speech is 
acceptable and which is not.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority whip.