(WASHINGTON) - Finally, there was Action in the U.S. Senate This Week on Nominations to Several Important Executive Branch Positions.

First up was Richard Cordray, who - after a Two-Year Wait - was Confirmed as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by a 66-to-32 Vote.  The Senate then Voted to Confirm Buffalo Native Tom Perez as Secretary of Labor by a 54-to-46 vote.

The Republican Minority has Blocked Confirmations of Cordray, the Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Secretary of Labor and the Head of the Export-Import Bank, among others - but its Strongest Attack was Waged against Democratic Nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Majority Leader Harry Reid Won Agreement from the Republican Minority that Nominations to the NLRB will get to the Senate next Thursday (July 25th), and that a Full, Functional Board will be Confirmed before the Senate leaves for its August Recess.

The White House has put forward Two New Democratic Nominees, to replace Sharon Block and Richard Griffin.

Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen praised Block and Griffin as Extremely Qualified and Criticized the Relentless Attack Waged Against Them by Republicans for No Reason other than "They Answered President Obama's Call to Serve."

Cohen said that the Senate's Action "Does Raise the Question of the Seven Nominations: Why were Two Nominees to the National Labor Relations Board Singled Out?"

Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, one of the Loudest Opponents of the NLRB, has Said He Will Likely Vote to Confirm the New NLRB Nominees.

"President Obama will Nominate Two Good Candidates to the NLRB who will ‘Stand Up’ for the Workplace Rights of Eighty-Million Working Americans.  We also Commend Majority Leader Reid and most of the Senate Democratic Majority for Standing with President Obama and Working to move all these Nominations Forward," Cohen said.  "Our Main Goal was to Move All these Nominations Forward, and this Agreement Encourages Us that We Can Move Toward a Twenty-First Century Democracy when we Build a Broad Coalition like ‘Fix the Senate Now’ to Mobilize Americans and Make Sure Their Voices are Heard."

CWA Communications Department Editor’s Note: You can listen to President Cohen on the Ed Schultz Radio Show here.

Obama NLRB Nominee Fought For Card Check Legislation/Former AFL-CIO Associate General Counsel Nominated To Labor Board

From The Washington Free Beacon

One of President Barack Obama’s New National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Nominees Dedicated Her Career at the National AFL-CIO to Doing Away with Secret Ballots in Labor Elections - a Tactic Critics Say Would Make It Easier to Unionize and Expose Employees to Intimidation.

Nancy Schiffer spent Nearly Three Decades as a Union Attorney in a Career that took her from Detroit’s United Auto Workers (UAW) Union to Associate General Counsel at the AFL-CIO, a Democratic Power Broker that spent $30 million on the 2012 Election.

Schiffer Took the Lead in many Unionization Efforts across the Country and has spent the past few years trying to Do Away with the Secret Ballot in Union Elections.

“[Card check] is Needed to Address a Severe Violation of Human Rights,” she testified to the House Education and Workforce Committee back in 2004.

Schiffer has described the Workplace as “an Inherently Coercive Environment” that Mandates Public Elections for Unions.

Such an Attitude Caused Alarm among some Labor Experts, including the Heritage Foundation’s James Sherk: “She’s been put on the Board so that Unions can more Easily Organize.  They’re taking someone from the AFL-CIO.  There’s No Pretense of Impartiality in this Nomination.”

Schiffer was a Major Player in the Democrat’s 2007 Push for Card Check Legislation, appearing before the House Subcommittee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension.

You can read the rest of this Labor News Report at: http://freebeacon.com/obama-nlrb-nominee-fought-for-card-check-legislation/

National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has issued the following Statement on the National Labor Relations Board:

Although it took an Eleventh Hour Deal, a Shimmer of Light has Broken Through the Extreme Republican Obstruction in the Senate.

It’s Finally Time to End the Unprecedented Blocking of President Obama’s Nominees, which has Spanned More than 700 days.

More Important, a Confirmed National Labor Relations Board will Provide Millions of Workers with Real Protection of their Rights to Organize and Bargain with their Employers.

Our Founding Fathers Granted the Senate the Power to Advise and Consent, Not to Obstruct and Extort.  It is Downright Shameful that some Republicans were Willing to take the Senate to the Brink of Paralysis by Playing Politics with Workers’ Rights.

America’s Working Families Applaud Senator Reid for Following Through on his Promise to Provide an Up or Down Vote on President Obama’s Nominees. 

Praise also goes to the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and their Strong Leadership, as well as the Leadership of our Affiliated Unions and Allies in Ensuring that the National Labor Relations Board Function to Protect the Rights of all Workers. 

And we Thank President Obama for his Leadership in Ensuring that our Country will have Qualified Public Servants to Run the Labor Department, the National Labor Relations Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

These Crucial Agencies defend America’s Workers, Businesses, Families and Consumers.

As Kathleen Von Eitzen, a Panera Bread Baker who traveled to Washington last week, said: “I Don’t Care if you’re Republican or Democrat, I ‘Care’ that you Work Together and Govern this Country - that’s what you were Sent to Washington to Do.”

The Labor Movement and our Allies will Continue to Hold our Leaders Accountable to Maintain a Functioning Government that Works for the American People.

We have Full Confidence in the Leadership of Senator Reid to Continue to Do Whatever It Takes.