Posts tagged Donald Trump
Op-ed: New Options for Your 401(k)
April 1, 2026 // The law doesn’t allow ulterior motives to infect plan investments. The duty to invest for the sole financial benefit of plan participants doesn’t allow fiduciaries to pursue political agendas or engage in self-dealing. The Labor Department will be ready to enforce the law if plan fiduciaries act with a disloyal motive or threaten the retirement security of American workers. The department isn’t promoting any particular investment option. We aren’t picking winners and losers. We are leveling the playing field so that plan fiduciaries can exercise their judgment—selecting plan investments without fear of undue liability. We are applying the principle-based rules that the law requires.
VA re-terminates AFGE contract for 300K employees, despite court order to restore it
March 30, 2026 // The Office of Personnel Management initially told agencies to hold off on terminating labor contracts with unions while legal challenges were still pending. But OPM reversed course last month, when it advised agencies to proceed with either amending or fully canceling their collective bargaining agreements. In granting her preliminary injunction, DuBose wrote that she did not determine whether the Trump administration exceeded its legal authority when it issued its executive orders rolling back collective bargaining rights. The legality of the executive order is still under review by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
FLRA to boost political involvement in federal union representation cases
March 30, 2026 // The Federal Labor Relations Authority issued a pair of interim final rules on Tuesday, revising its internal operations for how it processes the labor-management cases. Once the rules take effect next month, the FLRA’s three-member board of political appointees will become involved in initial decisions on amending bargaining units, overseeing union elections and certifying new union chapters. That initial process is currently designated to regional directors — career federal employees — from FLRA’s Office of General Counsel.
No Rail Strike This Time
March 23, 2026 // But there are other reasons as well for the clear tracks for this deal. The National Railway Labor Conference (NRLC), which negotiates on behalf of the railroads with the 12 main rail worker unions, said that the latest bargaining round “has seen historic collaboration between freight rail carriers and unions.” “Historic” could be a small stretch, but it does appear that both union negotiators and management went into this round determined to strike a bargain that workers and railroads could live with. In addition to money, both unions and management have touted better benefits and more paid leave.
Vinnie Vernuccio: Trump’s new union transparency tool is a game changer for workers
March 21, 2026 // Less than $600. That’s how much taxpayer money the Trump administration just spent to give American workers more of the transparency they deserve. On March 17, the Department of Labor rolled out an improved system — www.unionreports.gov — that lets workers quickly see how labor unions are spending their members’ dues. This information is essential to helping workers decide if unionization is right for them. The new transparency system is surely one of the most efficient and effective uses of taxpayer dollars in American history.
Largest rail union backs $85 billion Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger
March 19, 2026 // The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers – Transportation Division (SMART-TD) sent a letter to lawmakers backing the deal. Union leaders said they evaluate railroad mergers based on how they impact workers’ jobs and long-term stability. “SMART-TD evaluates every merger based on how it will affect our members’ jobs, livelihoods, and long-term stability,” SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson wrote. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern announced the proposed merger last July. Supporters argue that the deal would create a freight rail network spanning from the East Coast to the West Coast, modernize freight transportation, and improve the country’s supply chain.
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.
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.
Editorial Board: In defense of the secret ballot
March 15, 2026 // In the case decided by the 6th Circuit, Brown-Forman challenged the basis for the NLRB’s Cemex ruling and won. The supposedly unfair labor practice committed at its Woodford Reserve bourbon distillery was giving workers a $4-per-hour raise, expanding merit-based salary increases, offering more vacation time and providing free bottles of bourbon. The employees voted 45-14 against unionizing, but the NLRB ordered the company to bargain with that union anyway. The advantage of secret-ballot elections is that workers are free of coercion by unions or employers when deciding whether they wish to unionize. It also ensures that their decisions are anonymous, so they won’t fear retaliation or harassment by aggressive union organizers or the people who pay their salaries. A secret ballot is far more likely to reflect their true views.