The National Labor Relations Board has abandoned its enforcement action against SpaceX in a development that the agency's regional office described as jurisdictional. In a letter to attorneys representing the former employees, NLRB regional director Danielle Pierce said the board lacks authority because a recent National Mediation Board opinion places SpaceX engineers under NMB jurisdiction, Bloomberg reported Monday.
Pierce wrote in the letter, "Accordingly, the National Labor Relations Board lacks jurisdiction over the Employer and, therefore, I am dismissing your charge," language that was viewed by Bloomberg and supplied to the engineers' counsel.
The NMB typically covers railroad and airline workers, a framework that provides different statutory protections than those available under the NLRB. Under federal law, employees within the NLRB's purview have explicit rights to engage in protected collective action to seek better working conditions, with or without union representation. The law governing workers under the NMB does not afford the same range of protections.
The dismissed complaint had alleged SpaceX terminated eight engineers after they signed an open letter critical of Elon Musk. One of the fired engineers, Paige Holland-Thielen, reacted to the decision by saying, "The legal system doesn’t feel like it’s working like it’s supposed to, and it doesn’t feel like it’s protecting workers the way it’s supposed to," according to Bloomberg. She added, "I think that this is a sign of worse things to come in declawing the NLRB."
SpaceX had previously challenged the NLRB's authority in court. The company responded to the NLRB's 2024 complaint by suing the agency and arguing that the labor board's structure was unconstitutional. That litigation prompted an injunction from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that temporarily paused the NLRB's case against SpaceX.
Jennifer Abruzzo, who served as the NLRB general counsel under President Joe Biden, had earlier rejected SpaceX's contention that jurisdiction belonged to the NMB. After President Donald Trump fired Abruzzo in January 2025, SpaceX sought reconsideration from the labor board on the jurisdictional question, and the recent NMB opinion ultimately led the NLRB regional director to dismiss the charge.
The NLRB's decision to step aside represents a clear procedural victory for SpaceX. Because the NMB's jurisdictional rules and the statutory protections available to employees under that framework differ from the NLRB's, workers in this personnel grouping face a different enforcement landscape. The move ends the currently active NLRB complaint but leaves the underlying dispute over the engineers' terminations and the applicable legal protections unresolved under NLRB authority.
Contextual note: The letter dismissing the charge and the sequence of legal actions and administrative changes cited above were described in communications reviewed by Bloomberg and in filings and statements referenced by the parties involved.