The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or the Act), enacted in 1935, is the cornerstone of private-sector labor law in the United States. Section 7 of the NLRA guarantees employees the right to organize, bargain collectively, and engage in concerted activities for mutual aid or protection (29 U.S.C. § 157). Section 8 of the NLRA defines and prohibits unfair labor practices by employers and unions (29 U.S.C. § 158), while Section 9 governs the designation of bargaining representatives (29 U.S.C. § 159). Section 10 of the NLRA (29 U.S.C. § 160) empowers the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to enforce these provisions and to address any unfair labor practices. Federal courts have routinely held that the NLRA preempts state regulation of labor activities that the Act protects, prohibits, or arguably covers. The US Supreme Court affirmed this principle on multiple occasions (e.g., San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236 (1959), and Wisconsin Dep’t of Indus. v. Gould Inc., 475 U.S. 282 (1986)). Section 10(a) of the NLRA grants the NLRB exclusive jurisdiction over unfair labor practices affecting commerce, while Section 14(c) allows the NLRB to decline jurisdiction in limited cases—but only at its discretion.
On September 5, 2025, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed S.8034A into law, amending Section 715 of the New York State Labor Relations Act (NYSLRA). The law was designed to address the NLRB’s current inability to act due to a lack of quorum, which leaves the NLRB without the authority to issue final decisions and rulemakings. To fill the void left by the NLRB’s lack of a quorum, New York’s S.8034A purports to empower the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB)—traditionally responsible for public-sector labor relations—to step in and regulate private-sector labor disputes when the NLRB cannot lawfully act. The law also authorizes PERB to certify bargaining representatives and enforce collective bargaining agreements. Notably, it requires the NLRB to seek declaratory relief in federal court to reclaim jurisdiction over affected labor matters.
On September 15, 2025, the NLRB filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York (Case No. 1:25-cv-01283-GTS-ML), seeking declaratory and injunctive relief that would prevent New York from enforcing S.8034A. The NLRB’s complaint alleges that S.8034A is preempted by the NLRA and violates the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution. Specifically, the NLRB contends that S.8034A unlawfully creates a parallel regulatory system that undermines federal labor law and usurps the NLRB’s exclusive authority over private-sector labor issues. The complaint seeks a declaration that S.8034A is invalid and unenforceable, a preliminary injunction preventing New York and PERB from applying the law during litigation, and a permanent injunction barring enforcement of the statute in perpetuity.
This lawsuit marks a rare and significant challenge by the NLRB to a state labor law. If upheld, New York’s statute could set a precedent for other states—such as California and Massachusetts—to expand their own labor boards’ authority during periods of federal inaction. Indeed, California has already introduced similar legislation (AB 288), which was approved by the California State Senate on September 10, 2025, and purports to grant private-sector employees the right to petition the California Public Employment Relations Board when the NLRB is unable to fulfill its statutory duties. However, the NLRB maintains that such state-level interventions threaten the uniformity of national labor policy and risk creating a fragmented regulatory landscape.
Therefore, the outcome of the NLRB’s lawsuit challenging New York’s S.8034A will likely shape the battlefield for future legal challenges related to the interplay between federal and state labor jurisdiction in the coming years. For now, the legal battle underscores the mounting tensions in traditional labor matters while the NLRB drifts listlessly without a quorum.
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