Posts tagged Biden era
Jennifer Abruzzo Wants Workers to Fight Back
May 14, 2025 // On May 5, Workday Magazine interviewed Abruzzo, who has since returned to the Communications Workers of America, as a senior advisor to the president. We talked about how protected concerted activity can include Gaza protests, why it’s a shame that domestic workers and farm workers are excluded from the National Labor Relations Act, and what workers can do to fight back in the Trump era. “It’s up to the people to actually use their power and flex their muscles in order to get the changes that they deem are appropriate,” she says, “so that they can live the lives that they deserve with dignity and respect.
GOP senators demand swift action against Biden-era ATF bureaucrats who allegedly ‘defrauded taxpayers’ of $20M — and still work for federal govt.
May 13, 2025 // “The OPM audit report found that experienced, rank and file ATF HR employees were passed over for career advancements and promotions because ATF assigned unqualified, inexperienced special agents to these leadership roles within [the ATF Office of Human Resources and Professional Development] and paid them more for doing similar work,” the senators wrote. They also noted that the scheme cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
Trump Labor Department Pauses Gig Worker Rule, Plans Repeal
May 5, 2025 // The announcement, made in an enforcement guidance May 1, brings to fruition plans to rescind the rule—which the Trump administration has signaled in response to pending litigation over the policy. “Agency investigators are directed not to apply the 2024 rule’s analysis in current enforcement matters,” according to a DOL press release. “This approach provides greater clarity for businesses and workers navigating modern work arrangements while legal and regulatory questions are resolved.”
A New Sheriff in Town? Trump Names His NLRB General Counsel
April 1, 2025 // Although Carey spent eight years as an attorney with the NLRB, she has criticized the Board’s recent precedent-shattering decisions barring employers from telling employees that unionization will negatively impact their relationship with management (Siren Retail Corp. d/b/a Starbucks, 373 NLRB No. 135 (2024)) and abolishing captive audience meetings (Amazon.com Services LLC, 373 NLRB No. 136 (2024)). If Carey is confirmed, we expect her to steer the NLRB and its prosecution of cases in an employer-friendly direction, including by continuing to rescind memoranda setting out the agenda of former GC Jennifer Abruzzo, a nominee of former President Joe Biden, and looking for cases where the Board can reverse Biden-era decisions.
Michigan Republican presses Chavez-DeRemer to rescind Biden-era labor regulations
March 20, 2025 // “I encourage DOL to enforce its laws while providing robust compliance assistance to workers and businesses instead of continuing the enforcement-only approach taken by the Biden-Harris administration,” Walberg said Wednesday to Chavez-DeRemer in a letter shared with The Hill.
Op-ed: Protect American workers: How Trump’s team can fulfill his promise
March 6, 2025 // Regulatory reform is needed at three federal agencies that oversee labor laws and regulations: the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. At the Labor Department, the administration should remove the economically inept "environmental, social and governance" investment criteria and instead protect workers’ retirement savings. Investment managers should be prohibited from advancing political agendas that reduce pension returns. The administration should guarantee workers freedom of information and transparency, so union members know how their leaders are spending dues.
GOP lawmakers demand info on Biden-era spending used to declare student-athletes as employees
March 3, 2025 // While the change in how college athletes are treated has been welcomed by many, others have been concerned about the move's potential implications. Earlier this month, the Trump administration rescinded the Biden administration NLRB's September 2021 memo insisting college athletes be recognized as employees under federal labor laws. The Trump administration this month also revoked guidance issued by President Joe Biden on his way out of the White House that required schools to distribute direct NIL payments equally to female and male athletes. Aaron Withe, an expert in government unionization and a former college athlete, said he fears continued momentum toward viewing college athletes as strictly employees will destroy college sports. "Are unions going to step in between a coach and their athletes for yelling at the players, or because practice went long or because they're making them run an exceptional amount of lines?" Withe wondered. "If you're represented by a union, they're now your bargaining agent. You have no ability to go represent yourself in anything with the university if it is deemed they are your employer. You've got no ability to go negotiate with them anymore."
Acting NLRB Counsel Rolls Back Many Biden-Era Labor Memos and Begins Process of Changing U.S. Labor Laws: What Employers Need to Know
February 18, 2025 // Overall, GC Cowen’s memo impacted 31 prior GC memos issued between 2021 and 2025 (yes, some of these were hurriedly issued in January prior to the presidential inauguration). Some of the most impactful memos that are no longer in effect include: Contending that most non-competition agreements violate federal labor law Prohibiting “stay or pay” provisions Characterizing student-athletes as employees
Trump moves to cancel recent union agreements with federal workers
February 3, 2025 // The memo cites a U.S. Department of Education collective bargaining agreement reached three days before Trump took office that "generally prohibits the agency from returning remote employees to their offices." Trump has signed an executive order that would require federal employees to work in-office five days a week, reversing a remote working trend that took off in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Changes Begin: Trump Administration Takes Slew of Actions in the Labor and Employment Field
January 28, 2025 // President Trump did not take immediate action to fire the General Counsels for the EEOC and NLRB, moves that had been widely anticipated for his first day in office, although those actions are expected soon. Once made, the moves will further shift those agencies away from their Biden-era policies toward, to some extent, more business-friendly approaches with some significant caveats evident in the President’s initial Executive Orders.