Outlook 2018: Trump Appointees Usher in New Era at Labor Board

President Donald Trump’s appointees will control the National Labor Relations Board in 2018, and observers expect major changes in the agency’s philosophy and direction.

Peter Robb (R), the NLRB’s new general counsel, has been on the job just a few weeks but already signaled an intent to review and reverse many of the rulings issued during President Barack Obama’s administration. Employers and business groups criticized those rulings as excessively pro-union or pro-worker.

The board’s newest members, Republicans Marvin E. Kaplan and William J. Emanuel, joined then-Chairman Philip A. Miscimarra (R) in reversing several major Obama-era decisions just before his term ...