Harold Craig Becker (born November 14, 1956), known professionally as Craig Becker, is an American labor attorney, a former member of the

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Nati ...

, and currently the

General Counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

of the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

Early life and education

Craig Becker was born on November 14, 1956 to Ruth and Sam Becker; his mother, who had fled

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

through England in 1939, was a nurse and community activist, and his father was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

veteran who became a professor and chair of the Department of Communication Studies at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

. Becker graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1978, and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

in 1981. He was an editor of the ''

Yale Law Journal The ''Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ), known also as the ''Yale Law Review'', is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students ...

''.

Work experience (through 2009)

Becker clerked for Judge

Donald P. Lay Donald Pomery Lay (August 24, 1926 – April 29, 2007) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Education and career Born in Princeton, Illinois, Lay received a Bachelor of Arts degree from ...

from 1981 through 1983. He then worked at Kirschner, Weinberg & Dempsey (1983–1989), a law firm located in Washington, D.C., and represented members of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees and its affiliates, including the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers. He was a faculty member at UCLA Law School (1989–1994) and has also taught at Georgetown University Law School (1987–1988, 2012), the

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dist ...

(1994–1995), and Yale Law School (2016, 2017, 2019). He has been Associate

to the

and the

Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...

(SEIU). Throughout his career, he has argued many cases in court, including in front of the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...

. In 2009, he was a member of the

Obama transition team The presidential transition of Barack Obama began when he won the United States presidential election on November 4, 2008, and became the president-elect. Obama was formally elected by the Electoral College on December 15, 2008. The results w ...

, assisting with the review of the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemplo ...

Appointment

Becker was nominated by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

for a seat on the

; a 13–10 vote by a Senate panel on February 4, 2010 allowed his nomination to move to the Senate floor. However, his nomination failed to move to a floor vote on a vote of 52-33, falling eight short of the votes needed to block a Republican filibuster. On March 27, 2010, President Obama made a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the president of a federal official when the U.S. Senate is in recess. Under the U.S. Constitution's Appointments Clause, the President is empowered to nominate, and with the a ...

of Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. The president's action enabled Becker to serve without Senate confirmation until the chamber adjourned at the end of 2011. On January 26, 2011, Obama renominated Becker to the same seat, which was to expire in December 2014. However, Becker's nomination remained stalled in the Senate, and with Becker's recess appointment drawing to a close, Obama withdrew the nomination on December 15, 2011. As such, Becker's term on the board ended at the end of December 2011. His recess appointment was upheld, under ''Noel Canning'', by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2014. After leaving the National Labor Relations Board, he taught at Georgetown Law School and is now General Counsel of the AFL–CIO.

Personal life

Becker resides in Washington, D.C., with his wife,

Amy Dru Stanley Amy Dru Stanley is an American historian. Biography She graduated from Princeton University and from Yale University with a Ph.D. She taught at the University of California, Irvine. She teaches at the University of Chicago. She studies Am ...

, a history professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. He has two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Craig 1956 births Living people American political activists Service Employees International Union people Yale Law School alumni Lawyers from Chicago National Labor Relations Board officials AFL–CIO people Recess appointments during the Obama administration 21st-century American lawyers American people of German descent American labor lawyers