NLRB may change rule protecting profane speech by union activists

The National Labor Relations Board may soon change the rules on how profane, verbally abusive, and racially insensitive labor activists can be and still be protected under the National Labor Relations Act. The board, the main federal labor law enforcement agency, is seeking public comment on the subject for an upcoming case.

“We will be requesting public briefing on whether to adhere to, modify, or overrule the standard applied in previous cases in which extremely profane or racially offensive language was judged not to lose the protection of the NLRA,” said NLRB Chairman John Ring in a letter Wednesday to Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking minority member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.