Posts tagged Joe Biden
Backgrounder: Modern Worker Security Act
March 7, 2025 // Rep. Kiley’s legislation would ensure that the offer of portable benefits by companies would not be a factor in any calculation regarding the classification of a worker under “any federal law”—including the FLSA. The legislation defines portable benefits as a work-related benefit that stays with the worker regardless of whether they continue to perform work for that individual. Such work-related benefits can include “workers’ compensation, skills training, professional development, paid leave, disability coverage, health insurance coverage, retirement savings, income security, and short-term saving” or financial contributions toward such coverage—or a combination thereof.
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.
White House seeks data on federal staffers’ union work, raising alarms
March 4, 2025 // Legislation passed by Congress in 1978 grants federal government employees designated paid time during work hours — known as “official time” — to engage in certain union matters related to labor-management activities, such as bargaining contracts, filing grievance proceedings and holding workplace safety trainings. A federal worker, for example, may be allowed to use paid work time to represent an employee who is getting disciplined or fired. Official time is not allocated for union-specific business, such as union drives or elections.
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 Earlier this month, the Trump administration rescinded the Biden administration NLRB's September 2021 memo insisting college athletes be recognized as employees under federal labor laws.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."
‘Union Joe’ left labor movement weaker than it was
February 25, 2025 // As Dominic Pino pointed out last month in National Review, the overwhelming majority of workers in such fields as manufacturing, construction, mining, transportation and warehousing are not union members. Efforts to unionize employees attract disproportionate media cheerleading, especially when the unions target iconic American companies like Starbucks and Amazon. But there isn’t nearly as much coverage when workers in high-profile workplaces vote against joining a union — as they have recently at a Mercedes factory in Alabama, an Amazon warehouse in North Carolina and even Princeton University — or when scores of unions each year are decertified in workplace elections.
Labor unions call on Trump to boost US shipbuilding against increasing Chinese dominance
February 20, 2025 // Last year under President Joe Biden, the unions filed a petition seeking to address China’s shipbuilding under Section 301 of the 1974 U.S. Trade Act, hoping to start a process by which tariffs and other measures could be enacted. The letter notes China manufactured more than 1,000 ocean-going vessels in 2023, while the United States made fewer than 10 ships. It adds that the Chinese shipbuilding industry received more than $100 billion in government support from 2010 to 2018, such that Chinese shipyards accounted for the majority of worldwide orders last year.
With federal student labor rights in limbo, Brown’s unions push for state-level protections
February 10, 2025 // Under President Trump, the National Labor Relations Board may overrule its landmark 2016 decision extending unionization rights to student workers.
Republicans Should Support Workers — Not the Failed Union Model
February 6, 2025 // Senator Hawley’s proposal would prevent workers from hearing both sides before a unionization election, which they would need to make an informed decision. Employers would be prohibited from holding meetings with workers. Unions would also be able to force ambush elections, depriving workers of time to do their own research and make up their minds. And, like the PRO Act, the proposal would even give unelected federal bureaucrats the power to force union contracts on workers, employers, and even unions.
US court upholds Biden minimum wage order for federal contractors
February 5, 2025 // The panel, which reversed a judge in Texas who had blocked Biden's order, said a 1949 federal law allows the president to regulate federal contracting in any way he deems necessary to promote economy and efficiency. The decision upholds an order from Biden, a Democrat, but could be a boon to his Republican successor, President Donald Trump, if he uses his powers over federal procurement to implement other parts of his agenda such as eliminating corporate diversity initiatives.
President Donald Trump appointed a new leader at the National Labor Relations Board
February 3, 2025 // William B. Cowen will serve as the acting general counsel of the NRLB, the agency said. Trump fired President Joe Biden’s NLRB general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, last week. Abruzzo was widely viewed as one of the most union-friendly people to serve in the role.