From everything I have described, the NLRB appears to be an emasculated husk of an archaic institution. The agency is underfunded, understaffed, underpowered, and prone to congressional influence when it dares raise its head out of its foxhole. Most damningly, the Labor Board’s cultural footprint today is basically zero. Few workers know of its existence, let alone what it regulates or offers to potential complainants.
So why am I here in your inbox basing an entire blog around this entity? Am I a sycophant? Am I delusional? Or am I just bored during a pandemic?
All three of things may be true, but I would still argue that the NLRB is a vessel of untapped potential that anyone left of the political center should embrace with open arms. It, in so many words, does matter.