(Washington News Service) Labor unions are calling on Congress to fully fund the National Labor Relations Board before its lame duck session ends. 

The NLRB has seen its highest caseload increase in decades, but its budget has stayed flat since 2014. 

When adjusted for inflation and increased cost, that means the agency has seen a 25 percent dip in its budget. 

Jesse Mason was fired in April from a Seattle Verizon store while employees there were forming a union. His NLRB case won't be in court until February. 

Mason said that means ten months when he's not talking to his coworkers who may be left thinking promoting a union can lead to someone's firing.

"Things would be so different if the NLRB had the resources," said Mason, "to get me back there so much quicker with my back pay - so that I can tell people ‘Hey, here's how they broke the law. Here's what we're going to do. Here's how we form a union.'"

Mason said the slowdown at the NLRB because of a lack of funds works in favor of companies, which are hoping to wait out this historic unionization wave. 

Union advocates are calling for Congress to include nearly $370 million for the NLRB in its upcoming budget. 

Sara Steffens - secretary treasurer for the Communication Workers of America - said in addition to responding to election petitions for people forming unions, the agency must address alleged employer misbehavior.

"Really there is only one place, the National Labor Relations Board, that protects workers in these situations," said Steffens. "So, if they are underfunded, it's like tying the government's hand behind his back when it comes to enforcing labor laws. "

Mason says it's difficult to overstate how important the NLRB is - especially at balancing the scales for workers and protecting their rights, especially now.

"We're in an age where we're not just fighting local battles against a mom-and-pop store where they employ ten or twenty people and we need a union there," said Mason. "These are massive companies, billion-dollar companies."