[W]ASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed a Vermont-based attorney to a key position on the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday.
Peter Robb will be the general counsel of the board, an independent federal agency that oversees disputes between unions and management. His nomination was approved on a party-line vote of 49-46.
Both Vermont senators voted against Robb, a Brattleboro resident who has been a director at the firm Downs Rachlin Martin since 1995.
The general counsel is a key but independent post for the board, responsible for investigating unfair labor practice cases and deciding which to prosecute, according to the board.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Thursday that he voted against Robb because of his past record.
Leahy said a good candidate should have experience in labor disputes on the side of both workers and management, but Robb’s background is more heavily on the side of business.
Reached Thursday, Robb declined to comment on the confirmation.
He was among a slew of Trump administration nominees to meet staunch division in the Senate, which is responsible for confirming executive branch nominees.
Republicans welcomed Robb as a figure who will reverse the trends of the labor board during Barack Obama’s presidency. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., charged that the board had strayed from its role as “a fair and impartial umpire” in resolving labor disputes.
According to a biography on the Downs Rachlin Martin website, Robb has worked as counsel for members of the labor board and has litigation experience defending employers and suing labor organizations.
McConnell said Robb’s experience will restore the board to “its role as an impartial arbiter of labor disputes instead of a political cudgel for left-wing special interests as it was under the Obama administration.”
Democrats, however, criticized Robb’s record as too heavily skewed toward representing management in disputes. Many emphasized his role working with the Federal Labor Relations Authority during a 1981 strike that led to President Ronald Reagan’s firing of more than 11,000 air traffic controllers.
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said on the Senate floor that Robb has “a clear track record of working to undermine our nation’s workers and middle class on behalf of corporate executives.”
Leahy was blunt: “There’s a lot of things he might be qualified for, but not this one.”
