National Labor Relations Board spends Most of 2015 With a Full Complement of Members; Down to Four at Year’s End.

For about two-thirds of the year, the National Labor Relations Board operated with a full complement of five Members. Incoming Board Member Lauren McFerran, a Democrat appointee, replaced Member Nancy Schiffer, also a Democrat, whose term expired in mid-December 2014.

McFerran previously served as labor counsel to both Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and the late Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy (D-MA). While she noted during her confirmation hearing in November 2014 that she would keep a “very open mind” regarding labor issues, she and the Board continued the aggressive pursuit of a pro-Labor, policy-driven agenda. The Board’s pursuit of that agenda is checked now by just one minority party Member, Republican Philip Miscimarra, as fellow Republican Member Harry Johnson’s term ended in August 2015.