Key takeaway: The National Labor Relations Board has been severely constrained since President Trump's return, leaving the five-member board without the three-member quorum needed to issue decisions. As a result, union victories — including the first-ever store union at Philadelphia's Whole Foods — have stalled while employer appeals and legal challenges accumulate. Staffing declines, a disruptive Fifth Circuit ruling and policy rollbacks have deepened the agency's paralysis, prompting some states to step in and raising major legal and political questions about the NLRB's future.
A Very Hostile Climate For Workers: How NLRB Paralysis Is Stalling Union Wins
With the NLRB’s quorum gone after Trump’s firings, many cases are pending hearing, leaving workers in limbo.Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images
On a cold January morning in Philadelphia, employees at a Whole Foods Market in the city center achieved a landmark victory: organizers won a ballot to form a union — the first successful union vote at any of the grocery chain's roughly 530 US stores. The victory echoed earlier wins at Starbucks and signaled growing momentum in US union organizing — momentum that has since run into institutional roadblocks.
What Went Wrong
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency charged with protecting collective bargaining rights, overseeing union elections and resolving disputes between employers and unions, now faces a crisis of capacity and authority. The NLRB's five-member board requires at least three members to reach a quorum and issue final rulings. Days after President Trump returned to the White House, the administration removed board member Gwynne Wilcox, leaving the board without a quorum and many contested cases in limbo.
The Whole Foods Case
Rather than accept the regional decision that certified the Philadelphia store's union, Whole Foods filed objections and appealed to the national board. The regional director sided with the union, but because the board lacks quorum the appeal cannot be resolved — leaving workers waiting months for a final result. The impasse highlights a broader problem: appeals and employer objections that previously would have been adjudicated by the national board are now stalled indefinitely.
Staff, Workload and Legal Pressure
Staff at the agency report demoralization and high turnover. Estimates from the NLRB and its staff union put staffing down by roughly 100 employees since the administration change. Meanwhile, the agency saw a surge in case filings: case intake reached its highest level in more than a decade before the transition. Where the board issued roughly 150 decisions in 2024, it issued about six decisions in the first 11 months after the administration change.
Compounding the problem, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit intervened in an August case originating with SpaceX, suggesting plaintiffs were likely to succeed in arguing the NLRB is unconstitutional and maintaining orders that block enforcement while that challenge continues. NLRB attorneys say that decision effectively halts enforcement in affected matters and invites employers to use procedural delays to stall union certification and unfair labor practice trials.
Leadership Response
William Cowen, the NLRB's acting general counsel, defended his office's rollback of several Biden-era policies and budgetary choices as pragmatic responses to limited resources and historic staffing lows. Cowen argued the lack of quorum affects only a small share of cases (he estimated under 5%), and said the agency must prioritize core functions amid constraints: 'You can't always go to Disney World,' he said, likening agency trade-offs to family budgeting.
'The NLRB's employees just want to do our jobs and be treated with respect,' said one rank-and-file staffer. 'But from day one, this administration has crippled the agency, and treated us as enemies.'
Political and Legal Stakes
The White House nominated two board members in July — Scott Mayer, counsel at Boeing, and James Murphy, a career NLRB attorney — whose confirmations would restore quorum if approved by the Senate. But even with quorum restored, many former Biden-era decisions are likely to be rescinded, and broad legal challenges persist. Observers warn that a politicized board and adverse judicial rulings could fundamentally weaken the agency's independence.
State governments have moved to fill gaps: New York and California passed laws this year giving state labor agencies expanded authority over private-sector union elections and unfair labor practice charges — laws the NLRB has challenged. The Supreme Court is also expected to weigh cases that could determine the NLRB's future authority, the legality of member removals, and the independence of federal agencies.
Why It Matters
For workers like those at the Whole Foods Center City store, the consequences are immediate and personal. After months of waiting, employees still lack a final certification and the protections that a completed process would bring. 'Whole Foods has more than enough money and profit to be able to share that wealth with the workers,' said employee Ed Dupree. 'A union is the main way for us to get more of the profit of our labor.'
The NLRB's present paralysis — a mix of staffing shortfalls, judicial challenges and high-stakes political decisions — has created a period of uncertainty that labor advocates say amounts to a 'very hostile climate for workers.' How the courts, the Senate and the agency itself respond will determine whether union drives stalled today can be resolved in a timely, predictable way tomorrow.
