Still waiting for his back pay

A year ago, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordered Latino Express to reinstate driver Pedro Salgado with back pay and benefits after he was fired for trying to organize drivers at the Chicago-based bus company.

Salgado, who was unemployed for about a year, was reinstated as a driver at $14 an hour. But he's still waiting for his back pay.

His case is among the more than 100 in which the NLRB ruled in favor of workers and unions but which remain in limbo as a result of company challenges of the NLRB‘s authority.

The issue stems from an appellate court ruling that presidential appointments to the NLRB in 2012 were unconstitutional due to the fact they were made during a short Senate recess. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the lower court's decision at the request of the Obama administration. In the interim, companies have seized on the appellate court's decision, stalling other apparent worker victories.

“There are forces in this country that don't like the labor law and what it stands for but they know that it would be unpopular to attack workers' rights directly, so instead of attacking workers' rights directly, they attack the agency that protects workers' rights, but the effect is the same, it hurts working people,” said Lynn Rhinehart, general counsel for the AFL-CIO.

Some Republicans have characterized the labor board under President Barack Obama as a rogue agency that has tried to obtain and hold onto power by issuing rules rather than just hearing disputes between labor and management.

The board has been led by Democrats since 2010, with no Republicans since December as the appointment process stalled amid a stalemate between the Obama administration and Congress. Last week, the Senate confirmed five members of the NLRB, including two Republicans. With these two new Republican members, the board will at least consider a business agenda, said Steve Bernstein, a labor attorney who represents management.

“For the first time in quite a while, you'll have the prospect for real dissent,” Bernstein told Bloomberg News. “Dissents are very valuable for the courts on appeal, because they have an opportunity to perhaps gauge both sides of an issue more effectively.”

Unfortunately, experts expect the NLRB to only deal with cases going forward and not to revisit cases that are pending before the courts.

“Justice is not denied, but delayed, and that's not acceptable,” said Leah Fried, a spokeswoman with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America union.