Sen. Collins Votes Against Workers' Rights and Important NLRB Confirmation

On Wednesday, Maine Senator Susan Collins joined with almost all of her Republican colleagues to vote against the confirmation of pro-labor National Labor Relations Board nominee Lauren McFerran. The final vote was 49 in favor and 50 against. Confirming McFerran, who currently serves as NLRB chair, would have meant that the Labor Board had a pro-worker majority through at least August 2026. Now it is much more likely that an anti-labor majority on the board will be in charge of investigating violations of workers' rights, overseeing union elections and protecting the right to unionize and collective bargaining. The vote of Sen. Collins and others who concretely undermines workers freedom to organize and bargain for a better life.  We thank Senator Angus King for siding with working Mainers in his vote to confirm McFerran. Below is a statement from AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler on the Senate vote.

Today, 50 senators didn’t just vote against Lauren McFerran’s reconfirmation—they voted against the working people of this country Make no mistake: This vote had nothing to do with stopping Chair McFerran’s renomination and everything to do with reversing generations of progress workers have made toward building a fairer and more just economy."

The NLRB is the only government agency that protects workers’ fundamental freedom to stand up to powerful companies by organizing a union and bargaining collectively on the job. Without every NLRB seat filled, the board cannot keep up with the historic rate of worker organizing or the escalating union-busting we see from bosses every day. The NLRB faces relentless intimidation and threats from the very corporations and wealthy bosses the agency is tasked with holding accountable—none more notable than Elon Musk, who’s teamed up with other billionaires to try to dissolve the board rather than respect workers’ rights on the job. As Musk prepares for a role at the top of the incoming Trump administration, the NLRB urgently needed McFerran reconfirmed to ensure that working people can rely on the board when massive companies violate our basic rights.

Corporate lobbyists and anti-union politicians may have stopped this vote today, but they won’t stop workers from organizing. The 13 million working people of the AFL-CIO will continue to have working people’s backs. The labor movement was born out of the fight for the very rights the NLRB protects, and we won’t stop until every single worker in America has a fair and free shot to join a union and better our lives.

This is a huge setback for workers. McFerran’s confirmation would have solidified a pro-labor majority, giving workers a fighting chance to secure better protections. But now, Donald Trump has the keys to the NLRB, and once he takes office again, we can expect a wave of anti-worker actions.