Report: John Ring of Morgan Lewis expected to replace NLRB’s Phil Miscimarra

John Ring expected to replace NLRB’s Phil Miscimarra 

The Trump administration is closer to naming a replacement for National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Chairman Phil Miscimarra, according to a published report.

Bloomberg Law reported today that the White House was preparing to name Morgan Lewis’ John Ring to replace Miscimarra as a board member. It wasn’t certain, Bloomberg Law reported, that Ring would also assume Miscimarra’s role as chairman, or whether the chairmanship would pass to another Republican on the board. Miscimarra’s board term ends Dec. 16.

According to his Morgan Lewis bio, Ring is a partner in the firm’s D.C. office and has argued a number of cases in front of the NRLB for a variety of industries.

As reported in Bloomberg:

Ring represents businesses in an array of industries who are facing union representation issues and unfair labor practice charges before the NLRB, according to his firm’s online bio.

The board will have a laundry list of items that business advocates would like to see a Republican majority and GOP general counsel address. That includes moves that expanded joint employer liability for affiliated businesses, shortened the time period for union elections, and limited employers’ use of contracts to block class actions by their workers.

Republicans view President Donald Trump’s next NLRB nominee as vital to retain the GOP’s recently acquired 3-2 board majority, without a lengthy gap when Miscimarra leaves. With the recent Senate confirmation of members Marvin Kaplan, a former GOP congressional staffer, and William Emanuel, a longtime management lawyer, Republicans seized majority control of the NLRB this fall for the first time in nine years. Combined with the recent arrival of Trump’s pick for NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb (R), the board’s new political makeup allows for the reconsideration of some major Obama-era decisions that facilitated union organizing.