Posts tagged Republican
NLRB confirmations secure Republican majority
August 11, 2026 // The Associated Builders and Contractors in a Friday statement commended the confirmation of Macy and Prouty, noting that losing a quorum would have left NLRB "unable to issue decisions, creating additional uncertainty for the construction industry and the broader employer community." "A fully functioning NLRB is essential to reducing the growing case backlog and ensuring labor disputes are resolved in a timely and predictable manner," Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of government affairs, said. In addition to the NLRB confirmations, the Senate also confirmed economist Brett Matsumoto to a four-year term as DOL's Commissioner of Labor Statistics.
Bipartisan Bill to Accelerate Labor Contracts Roils Employers
August 6, 2026 // “The notion that I’m going to bargain a fresh contract and think of all the terms and conditions of employment that get woven into a contract, a contract that on the light side might be 10 or 15 pages single space and on the long side 50 pages, that’s just ridiculous,” he said. “People that have never bargained wrote this law.” The bill could also exacerbate timelines instead of accelerating them, as arbitrators and mediators become increasingly overwhelmed with an influx of contract disputes. That could be especially aggravated by ongoing staffing challenges at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, said Steven M. Bernstein, regional managing partner and Labor Relations Group co-chair at Fisher & Phillips LLC.
Opinion: Sneaky new teachers’ union plan to indoctrinate our kids: classroom AI
August 3, 2026 // Their objective is to indoctrinate, not educate. That misguided mission is largely to blame for the past decade of drastic learning loss in K-12 schools: Too much indoctrination, too little emphasis on the basics of math and reading. It’s a bad omen for our country.
GUEST COLUMN Eugene V. Debs’ socialism still is relevant in America today
July 21, 2026 // Debs’ loyalty to the Socialist Party was stronger than his commitment to the IWW. To him, establishing a socialist alternative to the two electoral business parties, the Democratic and Republican parties, was more vital. Debs is a hero who is still relevant. Wealth inequality is similar to when Debs was active in labor and political organizing. The Democratic/Republican duopoly cannot meet the needs of people in the U.S. Debs was an inspirational leader who learned the hard lesson: Labor and capital are bitter enemies who cannot be reconciled. Be like Eugene Debs.
Pennsylvania minimum wage bill stalls in state senate amid push for $15 an hour
July 1, 2026 // Citing the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office, many GOP members say an increase in the minimum wage would result in layoffs, reduced hours, increased costs to customers, and the destruction of small businesses. At this point, House Bill 2189 remains in the Senate but off the table and unlikely to be debated or voted on—at least for now.
Exclusive: Republican blasts AI, endorses union agenda at Teamsters convention
June 23, 2026 // A Republican featured as a speaker at a Teamsters event serves as a stark illustration of how the political lines are blurring for Big Labor, once a dependable political ally for the left.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley rips AI “cheerleaders,” backs Teamsters union agenda
June 18, 2026 // Hawley told the Teamsters that "mega corporations" have "lost their moral compass" and that he supports the labor movement because unionized workers deserve fair wages and "decent working conditions," according to a copy of his speech obtained by Axios. Hawley: Argued that the Faster Labor Contracts Act is needed to "speed up first contracts for new unions" and said his Christian faith backs up his belief in unions. Endorsed the Teamsters' position that Congress should pass legislation barring self-driving trucks from replacing commercial drivers. Ripped Amazon as "the biggest monopolist in the country," saying it's treating workers as "indentured servants." Slammed "AI cheerleaders" as corporate goons who "want to replace every job they can with an algorithm" and said "we need to give workers rights over AI in the workplace."
Editorial: Why are some Republicans pushing price-hiking, pro-union bills in Congress?
June 15, 2026 // Democrats have long pushed pro-union measures sure to boost prices, even as they pretend to care about “affordability.” But why are Republicans now joining them? On Tuesday, a full 20 GOPers crossed the aisle to pass the Faster Labor Contracts Act, 230-193. The bill, lifted from Dems’ PRO Act, aims to boost unionization by forcing employers to agree to labor contracts within 90 days after a newly formed labor group calls for talks.
The Texas Case That Could Bring Down the NLRB
June 13, 2026 // That’s the reality of a May decision by a U.S. district court in Fort Worth in the case Aunt Bertha v. National Labor Relations Board. The court ruled that the NLRB – the main government agency overseeing union organizing and collective bargaining in the private sector – is unconstitutional on multiple counts. This case seems destined to head to the Supreme Court, and if it does, Congress may have to rewrite federal labor law to meet workers’ needs in the 21st century.
Faster Labor Contracts Act would silence workers’ voices and empower bureaucrats
May 28, 2026 // While forced arbitration for union contracts would be new in the private sector, there is a corollary in the public sector called “interest arbitration” that some states most frequently apply to police and firefighter labor disputes. It’s not entirely analogous because a government that imposes forced arbitration is also the employer and thus part of the contract negotiations. Moreover, governments aren’t subject to the same bottom line as private sector companies because, unlike businesses, states generally can’t go bankrupt. Nevertheless, interest arbitration contracts have burdened state and local governments, arguably contributing to rising property tax rates in New Jersey, unfunded pensions in Chicago, and even municipal bankruptcy in Detroit.