Fifth Circuit Court Rules NLRB Unconstitutional, Threatening 90 Years of Labor Protections

The National Labor Relations Act—that pillar of American democracy that gives workers the right to bargain collectively with their employers—was enacted 90 years ago this summer.

Its constitutionality was upheld two years later by the Supreme Court, and no successful challenge to its constitutionality has been brought in the subsequent 88 years.

Until last week, when the avowedly far-right Fifth Circuit decided otherwise.

Today, the NLRA hovers somewhere between de facto and de jure nullification.

And just like that, it frees Elon Musk—and any fellow employers—to violate whatever rights their workers thought they enjoyed.