John H. Fanning, 73; Labor Law Expert
John H. Fanning, a leading expert on the nation’s labor laws who served for 25 years on the National Labor Relations Board and was its chairman for four, died Saturday at Georgetown University Hospital of kidney failure. He was 73.
In his five terms on the NLRB, Fanning participated in more than 25,000 rulings on unfair labor practices. Although a registered Democrat, he was appointed to the board by Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957 and served through the Democratic administrations of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Republican Richard M. Nixon. Carter named him NLRB chairman in 1971.
He retired from the board in 1982 and practiced law in Washington. He also was counsel to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Fanning earned his law degree at Catholic University of America in Washington.
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