WASHINGTON - Over the past weekend, President Obama made two controversial recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB): general counsel for the Service Employees International Union and labor federation AFL-CIO, Craig Becker ?" which the U.S. Senate previously blocked ?" and labor attorney Mark Gaston Pearce.

The weekend appointments by Obama, which bypassed Senate approval, makes the continental divide between Republicans and Democrats even greater: The Wall Street Journal reports that on NBC??s Meet the Press, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called Obama's decision to appoint Becker "yet another episode of choosing a partisan path despite bipartisan opposition." Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) added, "It's going to make problems worse...At the end of the day, they're [Democrats] really pushing forward here rather than trying to bring this together."

Meanwhile, Obama stated that the move was necessary because the Senate had stalled, namely because of Republican obstruction: "If, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis...I simply cannot allow partisan politics to stand in the way of the basic functioning of government."

Peter List, editor at LaborUnionReport.com, wrote: "The appointments of both Becker and Pearce, while ignoring the nomination of a potential fifth board member means that, instead of having a full NLRB of five members (which would normally consist of either three Democrats and two Republicans, or vice versa, depending on the party of the president), the NLRB will have three Democrats to one Republican, virtually guaranteeing all pro-union/anti-employer rulings in the future."

So what does this mean for convenience stores? A lot ?" retailers should pay close attention to the NLRB, as it most likely will make decisions involving issues that affect their businesses and employees:

• The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA): i.e., "card check" legislation, which would allow unions to form without competing in a secret ballot election
• The RESPECT Act: legislation that would change the National Labor Relations Act??s definition of "supervisor" by deleting the words "to assign" and "responsibility to direct" ?" a slight change that could make unionization of businesses, such as convenience stores, more likely
• Wage hour disputes
• The Family and Medical Leave Enhancement Act of 2009

NACS will continue to advocate retailers?? voices in labor discussions on Capitol Hill and will provide regular updates to members. Contact NACS Government Relations Director Corey Fitze at cfitze@nacsonline.com or (703) 518-4283 for more information or if you have further questions. Also, see Inside Washington in the April 2010 issue of NACS Magazine.