2025 NLRB predictions: It might be a wild ride

2025 will almost certainly be a busy year at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as Trump 2.0 resets the Board’s course in a more business-friendly direction. This is welcome news for employers, even though the trend of federal labor policy abruptly shifting with changes in the prevailing political winds is generally bad for employees and unions.

Political pendulum

In his recent book, American Covenant, political analyst Yuval Levin wrote:

Today, just as the framers feared, a change of the party in power means a sudden change of direction in many policy domains, as a new president begins his term by undoing his predecessor’s key action. This renders our politics more divided and heated and puts power in the hands of the partisan activist fringe of the president’s party.

Both parties do this, of course, but it’s no way to run a railroad. It seems like lawyers, lobbyists, and activists are the only beneficiaries of the pendulum-style approach to governing in Washington, D.C.

Gazing into the NLRB crystal ball

Now I’ll get off my soapbox and make a few predictions about what’s to come at the NLRB in 2025: