Chairman Liebman Departs NLRB As Third Term Ends; Member Pearce Designated New Chairman

National Labor Relations Board Chairman Wilma B. Liebman, who has served on the Board for nearly 14 years and under three presidents, will leave the agency at the completion of her third term at midnight today, August 27. 
The White House has designated Member Mark Gaston Pearce to be Board Chairman upon Chairman Liebman’s departure.
Chairman Liebman was first appointed to the Board by President Bill Clinton and was confirmed by the Senate in 1997.  She was reappointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 and 2006, and was designated Chairman by President Barack Obama on January 21, 2009.  She is the third longest serving member in the Board’s 76-year history.
Before coming to the NLRB, Ms. Liebman served as Deputy Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and as counsel to two international labor organizations.
 “It has been a privilege to serve on the Board and to work with people committed to carrying out the important mission of this agency,” Chairman Liebman said. “The values embodied in the National Labor Relations Act – which gives Americans a voice at work and helped to build a middle-class society – are enduring.  I am confident that the Board will hold fast to those values, even in challenging times.”
Member Pearce has served on the Board since 2010, and was confirmed by the Senate to a term that ends on August 27, 2013. Previously, he served as a member of the New York State Industrial Board of Appeals and was a founding partner of the Buffalo, NY law firm of Creighton, Pearce, Johnsen and Giroux.  He worked as an attorney and district trial specialist for the NLRB from 1979 to 1994. 
“I am honored to be given this awesome responsibility which was performed with grace and distinction by Wilma Liebman," Member Pearce said. "I will be eternally grateful for her steadfast leadership, scholarship and exemplary service to this agency and the labor-management community. I wish her the best.”