John Cushman Truesdale Jr. (July 17, 1921 – July 3, 2011) was an American lawyer and civil servant who served two terms as executive secretary of the National Labor Relations Board, four terms as a board member, and one term as board chair.
Early life and career John Truesdale was born on July 17, 1921, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to John C. and Hazel C. Truesdale.Buerger, Megan. "John C. Truesdale, NLRB Chairman and Staff Member, Dies at 89." The Washington Post, July 9, 2011. Accessed 2011-07-15.Who's Who in Labor, p. 602. He was one of four children, and he had three sisters: Patty, Anne, and Mary."Mrs. Truesdale Dies in Florida." Grinnell Herald-Register. May 15, 1980. In 1927, his father was appointed professor of physical education at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.Nollen, p. 181. His father later was the college's men's basketball coach,Toner, p. 207. and young John grew up in Grinnell and attended public schools there.
Like his siblings, he enrolled at Grinnell College and received his A.B. degree in social studies in 1942."National Labor Relations Board Nomination of John C. Truesdale to Be a Member." Press release. Office of the President. The White House. September 26, 1977. Woolley, John T. and Peters, Gerhard. The American Presidency Project. Santa Barbara, Calif. Accessed 2011-07-15.
He joined the United States Coast Guard and entered the service in 1943. His first post was as an anti-submarine warfare instructor. From April 1944 to 1946, he was the anti-submarine warfare officer on the USS Peterson, an Edsall class destroyer escort serving convoy duty in the North Atlantic. On April 15, Truesdale's first day aboard ship, the Peterson and two other destroyer escorts engaged and sank a German submarine, the U-550. He became a lieutenant (junior grade).
Truesdale enrolled in September 1946 at the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University.Toner, pages 207-208. He graduated with an M.S. in industrial and labor relations in May 1948. Cornell University had the only school of industrial relations at the time, and each year NLRB staff traveled to the school to hire qualified staff. One of Truesdale's professors had his entire class take the NLRB exam, and Truesdale scored well on it.
The Board offered Truesdale a job, and he was hired by the Buffalo field office as a field examiner in 1948. For several months after his appointment, he rented a room from fellow labor lawyer and friend Richard Lipsitz Sr.Lipsitz later defended numerous labor leaders before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations during Senator Joseph McCarthy's anticommunist hearings in the 1950s. He also defended many people before hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s and 1960s. He also represented civil servants accused of violating the McCarran Internal Security Act and educators accused of violating New York state's anticommunist loyalty test laws (known as the "Feinberg law"). He was the winning counsel in Keyishian v. Board of Regents, 385 U.S. 589 (1967), which overturned the law. See: Williams, Fred O. "Labor of Love: Richard Lipsitz, Sr., Has Been Labor's Advocate for More Than 50 Years." Buffalo News. May 7, 2003.
Early NLRB career Truesdale proved to be a highly regarded field examiner. The NLRB offered to transfer him to more highly sought-after posts in other field offices over the next three years, but he declined each time. But believing that another refusal might hurt his career, he accepted a transfer to New Orleans in 1951. There he met Karin Nelson, a field examiner and labor economist from the San Francisco office who was on temporary assignment.Toner, p. 208. Truesdale moved to Washington, D.C., in 1952, where he was appointed an administrative analyst for the board. He wed Karin Nelson in 1957.
Truesdale left the NLRB in 1957 after being appointed deputy director of the National Academy of Sciences. From July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958, he served as director of information for the International Geophysical Year. He returned to his post as deputy director after the event ended, serving until 1963.
Truesdale returned to the NLRB in 1963. He was appointed associate executive secretary, and served in that role until 1968. He was promoted to deputy executive secretary and served in that capacity until 1972. Truesdale had a positive opinion of Edward B. Miller, the Nixon-appointed chair of the NLRB chair from 1970 to 1974. "He did not come to the board to execute a management agenda," Truesdale said in 2006. "He was a very fair-minded person; he worked well with his colleagues."Jensen, Trevor. "Edward Miller: 1922–2006." Chicago Tribune. November 28, 2006. He received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1972. That same year he was appointed executive secretary of the board, the highest-ranking career office at the agency.He succeeded Ogden Fields, who had been executive secretary from 1960 to 1972.
First NLRB term, 1977–1981 President Jimmy Carter nominated Truesdale to be a member of the NLRB on September 26, 1977, to fill the unexpired term of Peter D. Walther (who had resigned).Gross, p. 242. The AFL-CIO was pushing Daniel Pollitt for the seat. Pollitt had been special counsel to Frank McCulloch, chair of the NLRB during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and employer groups (such as the Business Roundtable and United States Chamber of Commerce) were adamantly opposed to him. Walther and NLRB chair John H. Fanning were advocates of Truesdale, however. Employer groups felt Truesdale was somewhat liberal but would help push Fanning to adopt a more moderate course. Carter, not wishing to begin a political fight over what was perceived as a minor appointment, nominated Truesdale.Gross, p. 243. The United States Senate confirmed him, and he served on the board from October 25, 1977, to August 27, 1980."Board Members Since 1935." National Labor Relations Board. No date. Accessed 2011-07-15. Truesdale was succeeded as executive secretary by William Lubbers in 1979.Pace, Eric. "William A. Lubbers, 75, Lawyer For U.S. Labor Relations Board." New York Times. September 10, 2000.
During his term on the board, Truesdale provided the critical vote in General Knit of California, Inc., 239 NLRB 619 (1978). The United Steelworkers of America had won an election, 134 to 104, at a specialized steel manufacturer, General Knit, Inc. The company asked the board to overturn the election because the union had distributed a leaflet on election day questioning whether the company had made a profit. In 1977, the board had held in Shopping Kart Food Market, 228 NLRB 1311 (1977) that elections should only be set aside only when egregious misstatements of fact occurred during election campaigning.The Board had first ruled on the issue in Hollywood Ceramics, 140 NLRB 221 (1962). But after 15 years, the Republican-dominated Board overturned Hollywood Ceramics in Shopping Kart Food Market. See: Twomey, p. 114. Walther voted with other Republican-appointed Board members to uphold the election, arguing that the board's duty to quickly certify elections was more important than its duty to assure fair elections."N.L.R.B., in Reversal, Sets Aside Contested Union Vote on Coast." United Press International. December 12, 1978. The General Knit decision overturned Shopping Kart Food Market and restored the board's old rule as handed down in Hollywood Ceramics.Twomey, p. 114. Truesdale provided the critical third vote in the case.The Board would reverse itself yet again in Midland National Life Insurance, 263 NLRB 387 (1982). The Shopping Kart-Midland National Life rule was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in North American Directory Corp. v. NLRB, 339 F.2d 74 (1991). See: Twomey, p. 114.
Carter nominated Truesdale for a full five-year term on the Board on August 5, 1980. But Senate Republicans, convinced Truesdale was excessively pro-labor,Tolchin, Martin. "Republicans Fight Carter's Nominees." New York Times. September 14, 1980. sought to delay his confirmation until after the November elections (which Republican Ronald Reagan was expected to win).Gross, p. 245. The Republicans announced in mid-August that they would filibuster Truesdale's appointment.Hershey, Jr., Robert D. "Washington Watch." New York Times. August 18, 1980. By mid-September, Senate Republicans had adopted a much-enlarged strategy to bottle up large numbers of Carter appointees who would be able to serve past the end of the presidential term. On October 23, 1980, President Carter used his recess appointment powers to appoint Truesdale to the NLRB once again."Carter Uses the Senate's Recess to Reappoint N.L.R.B. Member." Associated Press. October 25, 1980. Truesdale's recess appointment was effective only until Congress came back into session.
However, President Ronald Reagan withdrew Truesdale's nomination to the board the day after his own inauguration,"Second Democrat Resigns From NLRB." Associated Press. January 26, 1981. and Truesdale resigned effective January 26, 1981."Aide Spurned by Reagan Named to N.L.R.B. Post." New York Times. January 30, 1981.
Return as executive secretary But in a surprise move, the remaining NLRB members voted to appoint Truesdale as the board's executive secretary. President Carter had nominated Executive Secretary William Lubbers to be the board's general counsel on November 28, 1979,Public Papers of the President..., p. 2166. but when Republican Senators said they would filibuster the nomination Carter used his recess appointment powers to elevate Lubbers to the post.Shabecoff, Philip. "Nominee Opposed by Businesses Gets Temporary Job at N.L.R.B." New York Times. December 28, 1979. Robert Volger, Deputy Executive Secretary, was named Acting Executive Secretary. With the position still unfilled by the start of 1981, Truesdale applied for the job on January 18.
Truesdale's appointment, and his service until 1994, testified to his impartiality as board executive secretary. For example, in 1989, AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland asserted that Reagan-era appointees to the board had tilted their decisions heavily toward management and had failed to impose harsh penalties on employers to violated the law. Truesdale defended the board, noting that only one member (Mary Miller Cracraft) had any employer connection before her service.Tolchin, Martin. "A.F.L.-C.I.O. Chief Laments State of Labor Laws." New York Times. August 30, 1989. Truesdale defended Cracraft as utterly impartial, and said that the National Labor Relations Act's penalties were intended to be remedial and not punitive.
In 1990, Truesdale oversaw a partial shutdown of NLRB operations. Truesdale identified a major budget shortfall in early August.Maurer, Mitch. "Labor Board Cuts Cost." Tulsa World. August 30, 1990. By late August, Truesdale ordered a ban on all travel, and said all ULP hearings cancelled.Reza, H.G. "Budget Crimp Cancels All Labor Practice Hearings." Los Angeles Times. August 29, 1990. Exceptions were made for cases involving picketing or were violence might break out. Truesdale even considered furloughing all NLRB workers for two to three days in September.