FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Contact:

Alisa Harrison, 202-628-8000

Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770

aharrison@franchise.org

mhaller@franchise.org

@franchising411


IFA SUPPORTS CDW LAWSUIT CHALLENGING APPOINTEES TO NLRB


WASHINGTON, March 15-, 2012 – The International Franchise Association today announced its support for the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) motion to intervene in a constitutional challenge to President Obama’s attempted “recess” appointments of Sharon Block, Terence Flynn, and Richard Griffin to serve as Members of the National Labor Relations Board.


On January 4, 2012, the President chose to take the unprecedented step of “recess” appointing these three nominees, even though at the time the Senate was in session and not in recess.


CDW seeks to intervene in the case Noel Canning v. National Labor Relations Board, which is before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Noel Canning, a small business in Washington state, has raised the issue of whether the Board has authority to act when it lacks a quorum of constitutionally appointed Members. The company’s case is on appeal from the Board, which issued its decision on February 8. If granted, CDW’s intervention would accelerate the legal effort to resolve for employers and employees the uncertainty created by an invalidly constituted NLRB issuing important and precedent-setting decisions.


“President Obama’s recess appointments have cast into serious doubt the legitimacy of any new Board decisions,” said IFA President & CEO Steve Caldeira. “The decision also further increases the level of uncertainty over business conditions among franchise business owners, potentially undermining small business owners hiring or expansion decisions.”


IFA serves on the management committee of CDW, which represents over 600 employers, associations and other organizations operating in every Congressional District.


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About the International Franchise Association

The International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. Celebrating over 50 years of excellence, education and advocacy, IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising. Through its media awareness campaign highlighting the theme, Franchising: Building Local Businesses, One Opportunity at a Time, IFA promotes the economic impact of the more than 825,000 franchise establishments, which support nearly 18 million jobs and $2.1 trillion of economic output for the U.S. economy. IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law and business development.

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