Posts tagged Bernie Moreno
Commentary: Faster Contracts, Bigger Problems
July 7, 2026 // TThe FLCA isn’t just about wages and hours. Some argue that it is also a backdoor for big unions to impose radical left ideology into the workplace. The Wall Street Journal editorial board recently warned, “Unions, allied with Democrats, have long supported a progressive agenda that includes collective bargaining for abortion coverage and transgender healthcare.” Under the FLCA, government arbitrators could force provisions for things like abortion coverage, gender-affirming care, and DEI mandates into a contract and lock them in for two years. Employers and workers alike would have little recourse. Not only is this bill flawed, but it also skipped the normal legislative process.
Opinion: Big Labor, DEI and the GOP
July 6, 2026 // These Republicans are promoting much more than the FLCA’s mandated arbitration after 120 days of collective bargaining. The bill gives the whip hand to unions in negotiating labor contracts, and along with that comes the left-wing cultural agenda that unions like the Teamsters and the SEIU have adopted. Take DEI—diversity, equity and inclusion—which unions have made part of their social-justice mission and collective-bargaining agreements. The General Teamsters Local Union No. 174 made DEI a feature of its negotiation with the Port of Seattle. The Writers Guild of America, East, included DEI targets for the hiring process and a formal diversity committee in its bargaining with Vox Media.
Commentary: The House Sides With Unions Over Workers
June 26, 2026 // Last year, I participated in a Senate hearing in which a union shop steward was asked about government-appointed arbitrators unilaterally imposing contracts. He said that would be “removing the democracy from the workplace.” He said such democracy “is the whole point of the union” because it gives workers a say. The shop steward’s own union was in the process of voting down several contract proposals, further emphasizing the importance of letting workers vote.
Why Would Any Republican Support Forced Unionism?
June 9, 2026 // What makes this even more shocking is that President Trump has proposed completely eliminating the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which the bill would supercharge. The president understands that contracts imposed by government bureaucrats are more likely to be based on political than economic logic, and that negotiations are better left to the private parties. Ironically, government-imposed contracts are likely to harm the workers whose union bosses are pushing this idea. Because when economics don’t add up, it’s the workers who pay in layoffs, reduced hours and the diversion of capital investments that would have raised productivity. This risks broader economic disruption by creating a threat perception that, at any time, a single union request could trigger a government-enforced contract clock. That perception would tend to chill hiring and investing, especially by smaller businesses that can’t afford to fight out an arbitration battle.
Republicans’ Latest Pro-Union Move Has Some Conservatives Sounding The Alarm
June 4, 2026 // Vinnie Vernuccio, the president of the Institute for the American Worker, also said that it would give “unprecedented power” to federal bureaucrats. He said that his organization was “proud to stand for union democracy by joining the larger coalition and sounding the alarm on this harmful legislation.” The Senate version of the proposal was introduced by Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and also supported by Republican Senators Roger Marshall (Kansas) and Bernie Moreno (Ohio) and 12 other Democrats.
Congress Should Reject the “Faster Labor Contracts Act”
May 15, 2026 // “What would happen if workers lost that ability to ratify a contract?” Cassidy asked. “That would be removing democracy from the workplace,” replied the Democrats’ witness, himself a union organizer. Despite this, the Faster Labor Contracts Act has since gained more cosponsors, which are almost entirely Democrats. In the House, Democrats are pushing for the passage of a discharge petition to force the bill through Congress. Union bosses such as Teamsters President Sean O’Brien are running an aggressive campaign to push for the bill’s passage, including attempts to fool Republicans into signing on.
Teachers’ union AFT slams crypto market bill, warns of ‘profound risks’ for America’s retirement plans
December 11, 2025 // The American Federation of Teachers, the powerful labor union that represents 1.8 million members, is urging the Senate Banking Committee to reconsider its crypto market structure bill, the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, calling the proposed legislation “as irresponsible as it is reckless” in a letter exclusively obtained by CNBC. In the letter that AFT president Randi Weingarten sent to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), she wrote the union opposes the bill based on the “profound risks to the pensions of working families and the overall stability of the economy.”
Sherrod Brown, weighing his political future, launches pro-worker organization
March 26, 2025 // But Brown said the institute is not political or partisan. Its first national poll did not mention his name but rather explored how politicians talk about the economy. The political dialogue is “fundamentally flawed” and “doesn't reflect the reality of workers' lives,” he said. Brown, 72, is weighing whether he'll run for office ever again, he said, after losing his bid for a fourth term to Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno last year. Before that, the Ohio Democrat had spent three decades in Congress and consistently won statewide elections even as the former bellwether state turned reliably Republican in the era of Donald Trump.
Op-ed: Josh Hawley’s union-friendly bill may open the door to right-to-work
March 17, 2025 // Hawley, who opposes right-to-work laws, may be inadvertently laying the groundwork for a national version of that same policy, protecting private-sector workers across America from getting fired for not paying union fees. Hawley’s Faster Labor Contracts Act—which the Teamsters union has already endorsed—is billed as a means of stopping employers from delaying negotiations with labor unions. Under current law, businesses and unions are required to negotiate in good faith, and there’s no deadline for an agreement because workers and job creators need time to reach the best deal.
Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien’s mission to chart a new political path
March 11, 2025 // The Teamsters president may not claim any vindication, but his approach is encouraging some copycats among his counterparts in other major unions. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention and aggressively campaigned for Democrats up and down the ticket while labeling Trump an anti-union “scab,” has suddenly found a soft spot for the GOP and taken steps to engage with Republican senators.