Posts tagged Secretary of Labor
Independent Women’s Voice Supports the Confirmation of Keith Sonderling as Secretary of Labor
July 12, 2026 // Critically, Sonderling understands that our dynamic economy is ever-evolving to create opportunities for Americans to work on their own terms. A third of the U.S. workforce has freelanced in the last year, with a significant proportion being women. Independent contracting allows women to support themselves while balancing important priorities such as caregiving for loved ones and managing their health issues. He will ensure that federal policy respects freedom, flexibility, and economic opportunity for American workers.
Op-ed: To High Praise and Hallelujahs, Trump Nominates Keith Sonderling for Secretary of Labor
June 30, 2026 // As Acting Secretary, Sonderling has strongly advocated for Trump's pro-business and pro-worker agenda, touting the manufacturing jobs that have been returned to the U.S., and has worked tirelessly to beef up and expand apprenticeships through the U.S. Department of Labor for small businesses and private-sector concerns. Under Biden's DOL, apprenticeships were issued through the major labor unions like the AFL-CIO and SEIU, effectively cutting out any private sector opportunities. Sonderling has also long been a champion for defined benefit pension plan sponsors to be able to use group annuities to protect pension benefits through pension risk transfers, and to allow employers to incorporate retirement plan options like cryptocurrency assets and private credit funds. But most pivotal, Sonderling is working hand-in-hand with the Fraud Task Force to eradicate the rampant unemployment insurance fraud.
Proposed review to modernize federal workers’ pay shot down by unions, Sen. Curtis says
October 14, 2025 // Despite having support leading up to the vote, the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union in the country, sent a message to senators opposing the amendment — which Curtis said prompted many of his Democratic colleagues to taper off. The group argued the amendment would “open up the federal pay system” to systemic audits and reviews by the Trump administration, which it says would be “devastating for federal workers.” Rather than ensuring higher pay, the AFGE claimed the Trump administration would use it to justify pay cuts or even freeze some spending altogether.
Op-ed: She looked like a pro-worker Trump cabinet appointee. But now she’s gutting the Labor Department
July 17, 2025 // The standards on the chopping block include those issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a unit of the Labor Department, that were developed after years of effort. OSHA standards, Reindel told me, take an average of seven years — and as long as 20 years — to draft. “This is an onslaught on people’s basic protections at work.”
Op-ed: Trump DOL Rule Would Reduce Union Transparency
July 2, 2025 // Keeping the reporting threshold at $250,000 in receipts is a good way to increase union transparency automatically. As that has become a smaller number in real terms over time, more unions have been subject to the highest level of scrutiny in their reports. Conservatives should applaud this win for public accountability. Instead, the Trump administration is looking to shield hundreds of unions from greater accountability by raising the reporting threshold. It’s not as though unions have been doing anything for Trump, as the AFL-CIO and government employee unions remain some of his top political adversaries.
Owens Leads Legislation to Expose Union Backroom Deals
April 17, 2025 // Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 to require labor organizations to disclose payments, loans, or financial arrangements with consultants hired to influence employees’ decisions regarding unionization. Ensures that all labor-related financial transactions, including payments made to persuade employees about collective bargaining, are fully reported to the Department of Labor. Closes reporting loopholes that have shielded labor unions from disclosing financial ties that could influence workplace organizing efforts. Directs the Secretary of Labor to issue necessary regulations within six months of the bill’s enactment.
DOL Secretary of Labor: Lori Chavez-DeRemer
April 15, 2025 // Lori Chavez-DeRemer is the 30th U.S. Secretary of Labor, confirmed on March 10, 2025. She previously served as a U.S. Representative for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District (2023-2025) and as the mayor of Happy Valley, Oregon (2011-2019). She is the first Republican woman and one of the first Latinas to represent…
Teamsters Back Trump’s OSHA Nominee, But Dissent Emerges
February 18, 2025 // “OSHA and the DOL, under the leadership of soon-to-be Secretary Chavez-DeRemer, will continue to benefit from leaders who started in the trades and understand the risks facing working Americans today and necessary reforms and opportunities to protect them,” the Teamsters said in a statement Friday. Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), a grassroots rank-and-file movement of thousands of Teamsters members, did not share as glowing of an opinion as the wider union. “Teamsters know bosses rarely care about our safety. OSHA is already too weak and toothless,” the movement said. “Now more than ever, we need to fight for ourselves.”
Opinion: Judge Slaps Back AFL-CIO Challenge to DOGE Access to Department of Labor Records
February 9, 2025 // So, a DOGE deep-dive into those records could show the hows and the whys behind big labor's assumption that it has total control of this agency, and to what degree the U.S. DOL colludes with them to sacrifice independent professionals, small businesses, and franchisers on the altar of labor interests.
The value of union strikes under Trump
January 29, 2025 // Like the UAW strikes, media coverage celebrated the strikes, but the impact appears nonexistent. The Starbucks rolling strike lasted a handful of days and only affected 300 stores and 5,000 employees — a miniscule percentage of Starbucks’ 10,000-plus stores and almost 200,000 workers. The Amazon strike impacted less than 10 of Amazon’s more than 100 locations, and workers generally continued working.