After former National Labor Relations Board Chairman Philip Miscimarra announced he would not serve another term, two names emerged as potential replacements: John Ring and Mike Stoker. On January 12, 2018, President Trump officially indicated his intent to nominate both to federal labor roles.
As expected, John Ring is the pick to fill Miscimarra’s seat on the NLRB. Trump tapped Stoker to be the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS).
John Ring
Republican attorney John Ring is a partner in Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP‘s Washington, D.C. office. He co-leads the firm’s labor/management relations practice and holds other firm administration positions. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Catholic University and his law degree from Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law.
Ring is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and President of the Board of Directors of Friends of the National Zoo.
Impact on the NLRB
If confirmed, Ring will join Chairman Marvin Kaplan and William Emanuel to give the NLRB a 3-2 Republican majority. With a brief period of Republican control under former Chairman Miscimarra at the end of 2017, the Board began reversing key Obama-era precedents. Unfinished business includes potential revisions to the NLRB’s “quickie election” rules implemented in 2014.
Mike Stoker
Mike Stoker is a Republican politician and attorney from California. His former roles include Chairman of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (1995-2001) and Deputy Secretary of State (2001-2002). He has also held chairman positions with the Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control District, Santa Barbara Association of Governments, and Santa Barbara County Water Agency and Flood Control board and served on the Agricultural Advisory Board to the California Superintendent of Public Instruction and on the Southern California Hazardous Waste Management Board.
Stoker ran for the California State Assembly in 2010 and the State Senate in 2012.
He received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California, Berkeley and his law degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
About the FMCS
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service was created in 1947. It is designed to be an independent agency whose mission is to preserve and promote labor-management peace and cooperation. It pursues this mission primarily through mediation and alternative collective bargaining processes.
Beyond Ring, Stoker
Few companies will ever know or care about the identities of John Ring and Mike Stoker. Yet the agencies the President Trump is entrusting to these men affect many workplaces.
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