New NLRB Majority Can Revisit Major Biden-Era Union Rulings
The National Labor Relations Board now has a 3-1 Republican majority among its four sitting members, giving the agency a potential path to reconsider several major labor-law rulings issued during the Biden administration.
James R. Macy was sworn in on August 17, 2026, for a five-year term expiring August 27, 2030. The NLRB’s current roster lists Macy, Chairman James R. Murphy and Scott A. Mayer as Republicans, alongside Democrat David M. Prouty. The agency’s fifth statutory seat remains vacant.
The change matters because the Board primarily acts as a quasi-judicial body. When an appropriate case reaches it, a majority can preserve, narrow or reverse earlier precedent through a formal decision.
A roadmap, not an immediate change in the law
On August 26, General Counsel Crystal Carey issued GC Memo 26-04, titled “Further Guidance Regarding General Counsel Priorities.” The memo provides enforcement and case-handling guidance to the NLRB’s regional offices. It is not a Board decision and does not itself change the legal standards that employers, workers or unions must follow.
Carey directed regional offices to continue investigating and prosecuting cases under existing Board law rather than waiting for possible changes in precedent. Existing rules therefore remain in effect while cases that could become vehicles for reconsideration move through the agency.
The distinction is important: the General Counsel leads the NLRB’s prosecutorial function, while the Board decides cases and establishes or changes agency precedent.
Which rulings could face challenges?
Carey’s memo identifies precedents that her office has challenged or intends to challenge when a suitable case arises. It does not guarantee that any particular precedent will be reversed.
One is Stericycle, the 2023 decision concerning workplace rules. Under that standard, a workplace policy may violate federal labor law when employees could reasonably interpret it as limiting their rights to organize or engage in protected concerted activity, even if the policy does not expressly mention unions.
The memo also identifies McLaren Macomb, which addressed severance agreements containing broad confidentiality or nondisparagement provisions. Another potential target is the Board’s 2024 Amazon decision, which generally barred employers from requiring workers to attend meetings about unionization under threat of discipline.
Carey also points to Cemex, which changed the framework for union recognition and bargaining orders, and Thryv, which expanded possible make-whole remedies for direct or foreseeable financial harm caused by unfair labor practices.
What workers and employers should watch
Workers and unions should continue relying on current NLRB standards when organizing, raising protected workplace concerns or filing unfair-labor-practice claims. Employers should likewise continue complying with the rules now in force, including standards involving handbook language, severance agreements, union recognition and remedies.
A precedent reversal would require more than a new Board member or a General Counsel memo. An appropriate live case would need to present the issue, the parties would typically have an opportunity to submit briefing, and the Board would have to issue a formal decision. That decision could then face review in federal court.
The next meaningful signal will therefore be a formal Board ruling in a pending case. Until then, Macy’s appointment and Carey’s August 26 guidance show where the agency’s enforcement strategy may be headed, but they do not automatically overturn existing labor-law protections or employer obligations.
Sources
- James R. Macy Sworn in as Board Member — National Labor Relations Board
- GC Memo 26-04: Further Guidance Regarding General Counsel Priorities — National Labor Relations Board
- NLRB General Counsel Targets Stericycle, Other Biden-Era Precedents — SHRM
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