a routine national labor relations board case moving through federal court took on greater implications with the election of donald trump as the first president in modern history who owns a large and well-known business. that is because the nlrb has found itself with a unique opponent<u+2014>the future president<u+2014>in its effort to force a hotel in las vegas to come to the bargaining table with a union there. in december, a little more than half of about 500 eligible workers at the trump international hotel las vegas voted to join the culinary union.<u+00a0>since then, the hotel, of which mr. trump owns half through a hotel company, has refused to recognize the union and bargain with it. the hotel contends the election was unfair because employees were intimidated into supporting the effort, which the union denies. the nlrb issued an opinion on nov. 3, just before the election, stating that the hotel must recognize the union. the hotel company, trump ruffin commercial llc, has appealed the decision to the u.s. court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit in washington, d.c. experts say the court could take more than six months to issue a ruling. the defense of the board<u+2019>s decision will be carried out under the direction of nlrb general counsel richard griffin. mr. griffin, appointed in 2013 by president barack obama, will end his four-year term in a year, allowing mr. trump to appoint a new general counsel then. that situation put the union and labor board on the front lines of a unique set of conflicts of interest that mr. trump could face. <u+201c>very rarely have any of my clients been in direct conflict with the president,<u+201d> said richard mccracken, an attorney representing the culinary union. while most presidents have set up blind trusts for their investments and business assets, mr. trump has said that, although he wouldn<u+2019>t be involved in the business himself, his children would run his companies. that has set up the potential for numerous areas where the federal government that he directs may encounter businesses run by his children. (eric trump, one of mr. trump<u+2019>s sons, has overseen operations for the las vegas hotel.) the trump organization didn<u+2019>t respond to requests for comment.<u+00a0>it has said in the past that it doesn<u+2019>t believe there would be conflicts because mr. trump wouldn<u+2019>t personally be involved in the businesses. mr. mccracken and legal experts said that in the nlrb case, they are watching to see whether mr. trump<u+2019>s position as president appears to affect the process but aren<u+2019>t expecting there to be any issues. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m expecting everyone to obey the law,<u+201d> mr. mccracken said. the nlrb supervises union elections, referees disputes between employers and employees and interprets the national labor relations act, the federal law that governs labor-management relations for most private-sector workers. the nlrb operates as an independent agency and isn<u+2019>t under the direct purview of the president. however, the president has the ability to influence the agency by appointing board members and its general counsel when those positions open up. the board is currently made up of two democrats and one republican, with two vacancies. in the decision on the trump hotel, the lone republican board member voted with the two democrats. but the decision pointed out he didn<u+2019>t participate in an earlier related case in which the nlrb held the election was fair, and he stated no opinion on that matter. <u+200e><u+201c>obviously this is a novel situation,<u+201d> said wilma<u+00a0>liebman, a longtime former member of the nlrb<u+200e> who became its chairwoman under president obama. <u+201c>in theory, i don<u+2019>t think the board would have any actual conflict of interest because it is an independent agency. but there might be some scenarios where there would arise questions of an appearance of a conflict of interest.<u+201d> if the d.c. circuit court sides with the union, the situation could grow more complicated. trump ruffin could ask the u.s. supreme court to consider the case. in that event, the justice department, led by mr. trump<u+2019>s attorney general, would normally represent the nlrb. however, experts said it would be highly unusual for the case to get that far. write to alexandra berzon at alexandra.berzon@wsj.com and melanie trottman at melanie.trottman@wsj.com
labor ruling on donald trump hotel takes on heightened implications  - wsj
alexandra berzon melanie trottman