Posts tagged DOL
Teamsters still bankrolling Democrats, including Jay Jones, despite openly flirting with Trump and GOP
April 9, 2026 // “As for whether the Teamsters is compatible with the GOP, the union officialdom isn’t,” Mike Watson, an organized labor expert and director of research at the Capital Research Center, told the Washington Examiner. “The members are more open to the GOP for social-issues reasons, but the staffer class and officers are largely committed Everything Leftists.” “Everything Leftism” is a turn of phrase used to describe the tendency of some liberal staffers and activists to adopt causes seemingly unrelated to their primary area of focus;
Commentary: The Labor Department Just Freed Contractors—Again. Congress Still Needs To Act.
April 6, 2026 // Fortunately, at the state level, more durable change is happening. Rather than trying to reclassify workers as employees, numerous states have begun experimenting with what's known as a portable benefits model. Under this framework, independent contractors in the gig economy are given access to SEP IRA–style accounts in which both they and gig companies can contribute. The funds from these accounts follow the contractors from job to job, rather than being tied to a single company, and they can be used for benefits like health insurance, retirement funds, or paid time off.
H-1B Workers Still Underpaid? Report Urges DOL To Switch To ‘Experience Benchmarking’ Over ‘Blind’ Method
April 5, 2026 // The DOL proposal, currently open for public comment, would increase wage benchmarks across experience levels to better align foreign workers’ pay with that of U.S. workers. The rule could raise required wages by roughly 21% to 33%, with entry-level salaries potentially jumping by about one-third under the new formula, according to previous reporting by The Dallas Express. However, the IFP paper argues the department’s primary approach, known as “Blind Benchmarking,” contains structural flaws that would allow underpayment to persist.
Cost of Fed oversight of UAW skyrockets as union moves from scandal
April 1, 2026 // Barofsky's firm, Jenner & Block, has been paid $25.39 million since 2021, and the firm charged more than $7 million last year ― an increase of almost 21% from one year earlier ― as the watchdog and his team investigated Fain and several members of his team. The total cost of federal oversight, however, is much higher, considering there are additional firms working for Barofsky.
AFGE President Demetrius Baldwin Hears Criminal Sentencing
April 1, 2026 // On February 26, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Demetrius Baldwin, former President of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2053 (located in Gulfport, Miss.), was sentenced to five years of probation. Baldwin was also ordered to pay $46,729 in restitution, a $27,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment. On September 3, 2025, Baldwin pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1343. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Dallas-New Orleans District Office.
US Department of Labor launches data visualization tool for union reporting forms, providing valuable insight on union spending
March 19, 2026 // The data visualization tool release follows the department’s launch of a modern open data portal at data.dol.gov that is providing more transparency and efficiency for users to access data related to the American workforce. Both updates help bring the department into alignment with the Federal Data Strategy established during President Trump’s first administration.
Two ex-Boilermakers plead guilty in $20M racketeering case involving KC-based union
March 17, 2026 // Two former members of the Kansas City-based International Brotherhood of Boilermakers set to go to trial in May pleaded guilty Monday to racketeering conspiracy and embezzlement from a labor organization in an alleged $20 million scheme involving union funds. Warren Fairley — who took over for a short stint as president of the union in 2023 after its leaders ousted longtime leader Newton Jones — and Jones’ son, Cullen Jones, entered their guilty pleas in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas.
NALC Union Boss Marcus Miller Better Get Used to a Prison Cell
March 16, 2026 // Marcus Miller, former Vice President of National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 775 (located in Niles, Mich.), was sentenced to 12 months and 1 day of imprisonment. Upon release, Miller will be placed on probation for two years. He was also ordered to pay $54,120 in restitution and a $100 special assessment. On October 16, 2025, Miller pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement of union funds, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c).
Commentary: The Federal Government Just Moved to Restore the Owner-Operator Model – Here Is What Actually Changed, What Did Not, and What You Still Need to Watch
March 16, 2026 // Three times in five years. That is how many times the federal standard governing whether an owner-operator is legally classified as an independent contractor or an employee has fundamentally shifted under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The 2021 Trump rule. The 2024 Biden rule. And now, on February 27, 2026, the Department of Labor’s formal proposal to rescind the 2024 rule and return to something close to the 2021 framework. Each time this pendulum swings, the trucking industry produces a wave of celebration or alarm depending on which direction it moved. The industry’s reaction to this latest move has been heavily celebratory — and not without reason. But if you are running a small fleet or operating as an owner-operator, the celebration needs to come with a clear-eyed understanding of what this rule change actually does, what it does not do, and where the real risk to your business model still sits.
Op-ed: LABOR SEC CHAVEZ-DEREMER: Our plan to rescind the Biden independent contractor rule
March 15, 2026 // In that spirit, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division released a proposed rule that provides clarity to help workers and employers alike determine when a worker is properly classified as an independent contractor and when that worker is an employee owed rigorous protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In proposing this rule, we celebrate the decisions of Americans who choose to test their entrepreneurial spirit — the same spirit on which our country was founded 250 years ago.