President Obama has announced his plans to nominate Mark Gaston Pearce and Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”). If confirmed by the Senate, these union-friendly nominees would fill two of the NLRB’s five positions. Pearce and Becker would join current NLRB member Wilma B. Liebman, whom President Obama designated Chairwoman in January, creating a Democrat majority on the NLRB. Once the Democrat majority is established, the Board is expected to reexamine several pro-business precedents established by the Bush administration.

Mark Gaston Pearce, a State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law graduate, began his legal career with the NLRB as a district trial specialist in the Buffalo office.  After 15 years with the NLRB, he entered private practice and is presently a founding partner of Creighton, Pearce, Johnsen & Giroux, representing unions and individuals in labor and employment matters.  Mr. Pearce serves as a Board Member on the New York State Industrial Board of Appeals, is adjunct faculty at Cornell University School of Industrial Labor Relations, and is a member of an American Federation of Teachers (AFL-CIO) affiliate union.

Craig Becker serves as General Counsel to both the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).  He served on the Agency Review Team overseeing the Department of Labor as part of President Obama’s transition team.  After graduating from Yale Law School, he clerked for the Honorable Donald P. Lay, Chief Judge of the United State Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.  During his career as a labor lawyer, Mr. Becker has served as a Professor at the UCLA School of Law, taught at University of Chicago and Georgetown Law Schools, and has published a number of labor-related law review articles.