NLRB General Counsel Richard Griffin continues to rule his roost and work toward expanding the reach of organized labor – at least, until his term expires in November. In a Bloomberg story last week, his ability to continue to confound republican efforts to reign in the agency was highlighted. In his capacity as General Counsel, Griffin decides which issues will be addressed when and which cases will move forward, so he still has a good degree of control over decisions, but that control is very much limited and will be further constricted once President Trump fills the two vacant seats on the Board with republican nominees. Until then, UPenn graduate students are the latest to petition for a union representation election and to prove my point, UPenn grad students petitioned to unionize in 2003, but that request was rejected (by the then-republican President-Bush appointed Board) because they were students, not employees! Last week, an NLRB administrative law judge ruled that the employee handbook of a Louisiana charter school violated the National Labor Relations Act with a policy that prohibited teachers from using school computers to access social media websites or conduct personal business during school hours! So, it’s alright if “Johnny can’t read” so long as teachers can access Facebook during school hours on school computers? Elsewhere on the NLRB front, the Board declined (on a 2-1 vote) to revisit a case where a regional director dismissed a decertification petition because the employer reached a settlement agreement with the affected union, the Communication Workers of America. The republican (Chairman Miscimarra) dissented!