Posts tagged Josh Hawley
COMMENTARY: The SEIU and the Teamsters Changed to Lose
January 16, 2025 // Give O’Brien credit as an adversary; he is at least trying something new, even if it is for the same old Big Labor policy program of forced dues, forced representation, rigid work rules, and government control of the economy. His shift in tone—only tone—has already paid dividends for him and his fellow union bosses, including such left-wing luminaries as Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers, in the coming second Trump administration.
Republican Senator Surprises Employers By Releasing Framework for Pro-Labor Bill: 7 Key Sections to Track
January 15, 2025 // Senator Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) “Pro-Worker Framework,” revealed on January 10, calls for pro-labor changes historically advocated for by Democrats and mirrors many aspects of the proposed PRO Act that has been long championed by labor leaders. Is this the beginning of a true labor revolution that will upend the traditional status quo, a plan destined to go nowhere, or something in between?
Missouri Republicans are reaching out to the state’s trade unions, but some workers are wary
October 10, 2024 // Bernie Ryan, an electrician with the St. Louis-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said fans of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump sometimes encounter hostility at worksites. He recalled a situation where a pro-Trump electrician received a chilly reception inside a construction trailer. “If you’re a Trump voter and an electrician, you would know just to keep his mouth shut and save it for at home,” Ryan said. “But there's other trades that are different from mine where it's more prevalent.”
“Warehouse Worker Protection Act” Reintroduced with Bipartisan Support
October 2, 2024 // The bill imposes restrictions on employers’ use of productivity quotas to measure workers’ performance or output and includes substantial notice requirements to workers on the use of such quotas, discipline for failing to meet the quotas, and workers’ rights under the act, among other things. It mandates breaks for covered workers and recordkeeping obligations for employers. The WWPA also requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue two new rulemakings and creates a new category of unfair labor practices under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). It also expands the federal bureaucracy by creating a Quota Task Force as well as the Fairness and Transparency Office within the Department of Labor. This legislation is a thinly-veiled attack on large companies like Amazon that the Democratic Party and labor organizations do not support. The original sponsors of the WWPA were Senators Markey, Bob Casey (D-PA), and Tina Smith (D-MN). The cosponsors now include Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Hawley, Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Peter Welch (D-VT).
Commentary: For Once, Trump Can Legitimately Argue an Elite Cabal Cheated Him of a Real Win
September 23, 2024 // Keep in mind, the Trump campaign already gave the union an unprecedented gift: Teamsters president Sean O’Brien gave the closing address on the first night of the Republican National Convention, serving up a 17-minute speech that spent a lot of time bragging about how effective the Teamsters are, denounced corporations for “economic terrorism,” and praised Missouri senator Josh Hawley for changing his position to oppose national “right to work” legislation. (Dominic Pino reminds us what the Teamsters Union actually is.) My Three Martini Lunch podcast co-host Greg Corombos and I spent the first segment on Tuesday discussing the rumors that the Teamsters were going to betray Trump and endorse Harris. Trump dodged the worst-case scenario, but . . . based on that poll, he earned the Teamsters endorsement, and the leadership of the union wouldn’t give it to him. A non-endorsement is a tie that really should have been a Trump win.
Teamsters turn their back on Kamala Harris
September 22, 2024 // For the first time in decades, the American union has not endorsed the Democrats.
Commentary: The Rise of “Pro-Labor” Conservatism
September 9, 2024 // Yet O’Brien’s move has attracted the attention of commentators from both sides of the political spectrum who see it as a bellwether. It is what conservative commentator Sohrab Ahmari has called a “brave gambit” and veteran labor reporter Steven Greenhouse dubbed a “huge gamble.” “A glacier of hostility has divided the GOP from organized labor for two generations,” Ahmari wrote in Compact. But the Teamsters president “took a pickaxe to that glacier” by speaking at the RNC. Ahmari attributes the rise of this strain of pro-labor, anti-union conservatism to Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), a MAGA firebrand who has come out as perhaps the lone GOP senator to oppose right to work legislation, the anti-union laws on the books in 28 states.
Commentary: Beware the Vanilla Slugger
August 8, 2024 // Study after study shows that the vast majority of independent contractors wish to remain as we are. Any government policy that limits our freedom to choose self-employment is a weaponization of regulatory language. It’s trying to force us to become something we do not want to be. It’s plain and simple freelance busting. Unionized employees and independent contractors are equals as Americans. We have the right to choose how we earn a living. Everyone should respect us and our rights, because that’s how we roll here in the land of the free. We’re all about liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Republicans Should Beware the Big Labor Snake
July 31, 2024 // If presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris wins in November, organized labor will tighten its grip on American workers. In 2020, Ms. Harris ran on banning right-to-work provisions, codifying “card check” union election theft and sectoral bargaining. If Ms. Harris imposes her radical agenda, organized labor will likely expand its tentacles into new frontiers, such as pharmacists and ride-hailing companies. Republicans should understand that the best way to win over union workers is by doubling down on Mr. Trump’s worker freedom agenda. Tax cuts and deregulation spur economic growth and job creation, a rising tide that lifts all boats. Right-to-work laws ensure that American workers are not forced to pay dues to a union boss to put food on the table. Strong protections for independent contracting allow Americans to make a living by being their own boss.
Hard labor No, American conservatism shouldn’t move leftward on unions
July 30, 2024 // “The Teamsters recently stated the ‘S’ in ESG is ‘a critically important tool for advancing worker interests in the 21st century,’” he wrote. “Similarly, the AFL-CIO has said ESG investing ‘advance[s] the causes of working people.’” The “end game is to give unions more power,” Vernuccio concluded. “Yet while unions win, workers lose — and so do the investors whose money is being used for political purposes.”