UFCW 400 Members Affected by High Court Ruling
Thursday, July 10, 2014(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
The
ripple effect for employers, workers and unions seeking legal clarity is huge,
in the wake of the Supreme Court’s
recent decision on presidential recess powers. The justices unanimously ruled
that President Obama’s appointments to the NLRB in 2012 and 2013 were
invalid,
as were all the decisions they helped hand down while serving. Among the cases
affected by the decision are those of UFCW Local 400 members Maria Yliquin and
Esam Amireh, who the NLRB in June 2013 found to be wrongfully fired by Fresh
& Green’s (which has since gone out of business). The company then
appealed
the case to the D.C. Circuit Court, where it hung, in limbo, as the recess
appointment case made its way to the high court. Now, the Circuit Court is
likely to send the case back to the NLRB to be reheard, restarting the whole
process. “What that means is more delay,” said union lawyer Carey
Butsavage.
“There are already intolerable delays for employees trying to exercise their
labor rights.” Nevertheless, “We’re going to continue to fight,”
Butsavage
promised.
- adapted from Chloe Johnson’s 6/26 report in The Washington Times