President Obama's recess appointment of Craig Becker, a lawyer for the SEIU and the AFL-CIO, and Mark Pearce, a labor lawyer, to the National Labor Relations Board has drawn fire from Republican members of Congress and groups like the Chamber of Commerce and the Workforce Fairness Institute. They say that the appointment of Becker in particular will cause the NLRB to show favor to unions. Groups like American Rights at Work have praised the move, saying that the NLRB needs to be fully functional now more than ever. The Obama administration defended the appointments, saying that they had been blocked for partisan reasons. The NLRB has had three vacant seats for over two years, which has hampered its ability to serve as a mediator in labor disputes.
See "Craig Becker Appointment Stirs Debate Over Economy, Politics", Stephanie Condon, CBS News, March 29, 2010