NLRB Transfers Raft of Open Cases in Bid to Manage Backlog (1)

The National Labor Relations Board transferred approximately 3,500 cases from three regional offices to locations with more bandwidth in the agency’s latest attempt to deal with its crushing backlog.

Regional offices in New Orleans, Phoenix, and Los Angeles sent cases to eight other offices to “avoid unnecessary cost and delay,” according to transfer orders reviewed by Bloomberg Law.

“Following a comprehensive review of pending Unfair Labor Practice cases throughout the Agency, it became evident that the inability to timely adjudicate aging cases necessitated their redistribution across various regions,” General Counsel Crystal Carey said in statement.

Staff attrition during President Donald Trump’s second term in office has exacerbated the NLRB’s resource and personnel shortages that it’s suffered for years, fueling an enormous pileup of cases. Field offices have about 75% of the staff needed to handle their workloads.

The agency had 17,000 open unfair labor practice cases—including nearly 10,000 that have been pending for more than six months—as of early March.

The NLRB general counsel’s office changed its protocol for incoming charges, a move that’s led to some mistaken dismissals while providing relief for field staffers.

The agency has sought approval from the Trump administration to hire more workers. An agency official recently posted on the social media platform LinkedIn that it will soon be announcing job openings.

The case transfer executed May 5 sent the most cases to regional offices in Brooklyn and San Francisco. Regional offices in St. Louis, Seattle, Denver, Indianapolis, and Oakland also welcomed new cases.

The NLRB’s two offices in Los Angeles were on either side of the exchange. The office that covers Los Angeles and areas to the north, called Region 31, sent cases to Oakland and Indianapolis. The office that covers Los Angeles and areas to the south, called Region 21, received cases from Phoenix.