Posts tagged Secretary of Labor
10 Questions Julie Su Is Afraid to Answer in Front of the American People
February 27, 2024 // Under the rule of Chairman Bernie Sanders, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will instead hold a closed-door executive session to rubber-stamp Su’s nomination. It does not appear that Senators will have any opportunity to question the nominee––in fact, she likely won’t even be required to appear in person. Moreover, as the HELP website states, “There is no video broadcast for this event.”
Ranking Member Cassidy Urges HELP Committee Chair to Hold Hearing on Renomination of Julie Su
February 16, 2024 // I respectfully request that you hold a hearing for Ms. Su’s renomination so that Senators may question her record, and that you hold a public mark-up on her nomination,” continued Dr. Cassidy. “Any other act will circumvent this Committee’s constitutionally mandated advice and consent role for Presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed (PAS) positions.”
‘Independent Contractor’ Rule Latest Dumpster Fire Exported From California
January 31, 2024 // One of those infamous policies and the havoc it’s bound to wreak has gone national, thanks to labor department rules issued by the Biden administration. A 339-page Department of Labor rule – you can always count on the federal government to keep it pithy – would make it much harder to be an independent contractor or freelance worker in America. Created to replace a simpler Trump-era rule, it’s modeled on AB5, a disastrous 2019 California law that made independent contracting and freelance work so hard to do that it effectively outlawed it in the Golden State.
The Biden Administration’s Anti-Worker Policies Set to Fail Again
December 28, 2023 // “Conservatives in Congress are holding the line against President Biden’s desire to make California labor policies a standard for the entire Nation. This latest rejection of President Biden’s pick for labor secretary is another reminder to President Biden that restrictive contracting laws, high minimum wage requirements, and excessive regulations on small businesses do not put American workers first. These disastrous, anti-worker policies are why people are leaving California in droves, and we should not export them to the entire country.”
Biden’s labor proxy war against DeSantis
November 22, 2023 // Su is abusing her discretionary power under the Federal Transit Act. Yet if her actions are allowed to stand, labor unions may come to regret it. Future administrations may interpret the “fair and equitable” provision to require that states enact policies like Florida’s. States such as California, New York, and Illinois may suddenly find themselves out billions of dollars unless they stop giving unions unfair advantages and start protecting public-sector workers’ rights. Those states would surely argue that the Federal Transit Act doesn’t grant the secretary of labor such sweeping authority, but if that’s true, then the Biden administration’s assault on Florida is equally wrong.
Fast-food prices hiked after California ups minimum wage
November 13, 2023 // In that January article, I called this “the iron law of California progressivism: Claim that new laws will help the poor. When the actual effect turns out to be catastrophic for the poor, blame capitalism/markets/billionaires/racism, and expand government control of the business. Rinse, repeat, and promote as a national — even global — model for equity. And if Californians have anything to say about it, AB 257 will be coming to you, no matter where you live in the United States.” Indeed, Biden’s forever-acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su has already expressed her unbridled enthusiasm for California’s policy. That’s no surprise, either: Su was California’s secretary of labor, and is closely tied to the union leadership behind a number of execrable labor policies. Among the most notorious is AB 5, the law that banned independent contracting in key industries, including Uber drivers and trucking companies. When AB 257 emerged from the same fetid philosophical swamp, there was Su, now part of the Biden administration, telling the bill’s supporters, “The Department of Labor stands with you. The Biden-Harris Administration stands with you.”
Workers for Opportunity Applauds Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody
October 7, 2023 // The Biden Administration is weaponizing a 60-year-old provision in the Federal Transit Act, which permits the Secretary of Labor to interpret whether laws impacting what transit employee unions can collectively bargaining over – such as automatic dues deductions by public employers – are “fair and equitable.” We applaud Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's actions to defend her state and transit employees. By filing suit against the Department of Labor, she demonstrates the seriousness with which Florida treats employee rights and worker freedoms. We are likewise proud to have been on the ground floor of educating lawmakers on the merits of the reforms as they advanced and passed into law.
Union Gets Big Pay Raise at Inefficient West Coast Ports
June 21, 2023 // The disruption tactics the ILWU has been using over the past few months to gain leverage in negotiations appear to have hurt its own members this year, with paid work hours down 25 percent through April 14 compared to the same period last year. That’s partly due to shippers choosing other ports and partly due to dockworkers working less on union orders. Common work actions include assigning fewer workers and slowing down the pace of work. The JOC said that cranes at the port of Seattle–Tacoma went from 25 container moves per hour to fewer than ten. As Peter Tirschwell argued on June 6 in the Wall Street Journal, by delaying negotiations for as long as it did, the ILWU might have missed an opportunity for a bigger pay raise. Ocean carriers earned extraordinary profits due to soaring container rates in 2021 and 2022, but those rates came back down to Earth at the end of last year and are largely back to normal now. And the constant uncertainty every time a West Coast contract expires contrasts with the relative ease with which the International Longshoremen’s Association, which represents East Coast dockworkers, has come to contract agreements for decades. The delay-and-prolong approach of the ILWU helps encourage shippers to go elsewhere, leaving less demand for longshore labor on the West Coast.
Commentary: Economic Freedom Is Under Assault In Washington
June 13, 2023 // The DOL’s proposed rule change is yet another economically regressive measure that imposes greater barriers on professionals and consumers alike. Lawmakers that stand on the side of personal freedom, economic independence, and the entrepreneurism that drives economic growth must challenge the Administration on this disastrous approach. Stopping this rule change in its tracks would protect the millions of independent contractors that choose freedom, flexibility, and autonomy, as well as the millions more Americans in dire need of their services.
Labor secretary nominee defends ESG rule in tense House testimony
June 9, 2023 // Mr. Allen introduced a bill last year with Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., similar in scope to a rule finalized late in the Trump administration that said retirement plan fiduciaries could not invest in "non-pecuniary" vehicles that sacrifice investment returns or take on additional risk. Mr. Allen said he's working on reintroducing the bill during this Congress. Under the Biden administration, the Labor Department rescinded the Trump-era rule. On Tuesday, Ali Khawar, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration, said the rule is neutral and doesn't require consideration of ESG factors when making an investment decision.