Posts tagged U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Lawmakers Should Not Let a Lame Duck Pack the NLRB
July 28, 2024 // For instance, on her watch, Chair McFerran has allowed workplace discrimination to be weaponized for pro-union activities. This decision has subjected workers to traumatizing harassment, while simultaneously barring employers from intervening. According to a report by the Institute for the American Worker, McFerran’s NLRB has used Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to excuse “racist rhetoric, sexist harassment, and vulgarity in the workplace, as long as it takes place in the context of ‘union activity.’”
WIOA Reauthorization Draft Includes “Blacklisting” Provision, Violating Employers’ Due Process Rights
July 3, 2024 // The blacklisting provision, if implemented, would bar employers from WIOA funding based on findings that are still subject to appeal. As a result, an employer may be denied funding even though a court may rule on appeal that the employer did not violate the law. Efforts to blacklist employers from federal initiatives and funding began under the Obama administration when it issued Executive Order 13673, “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces,” in July 2014. The Executive Order called for the debarment or suspension of federal contractors from the federal procurement process for allegations of labor and employment law violations. A final rule and guidance implementing the Executive Order were issued in August 2016, but both were blocked from taking effect by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and by Congress via a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution.
Frisard’s Transportation v. Department of Labor
June 26, 2024 // And the rule affects far more than the 350,000 owner-operator truckers that operate across the nation. It will affect 70 million freelancers in industries across the country, pushing them towards an employment status when 80% of them want to be independent. Similar legislation in California led to a loss of over 10% of freelancers. With the help of the Pelican Institute, Frisard’s has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Labor, arguing that the new rule is arbitrary and exceeds the department’s statutory authority. The company asserts that the rule undermines the certainty businesses and independent contractors need to operate efficiently and is inconsistent with the Fair Labor Standards Act and precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fifth Circuit.
Biden Pushes Early Renomination of Failed NLRB Chair in Effort to Deny Possible Trump Administration Control over Labor Board
June 12, 2024 // The NLRB is composed of five members, usually three of whom are from the president’s political party and two from the opposing party. The Board uses both adjudication and rulemaking to put forward its interpretations of the NLRA, but it needs a quorum of three members to act. Currently, there are four Board members (see Board composition here). Three of the members are Democrats, while one is a Republican. The other Republican seat has been vacant since December of 2022, because President Biden chose not to nominate anyone to that vacancy for a year and a half. While agency vacancies and delays on nominations are nothing new in Washington, this one is notable and shows an unusual partisanship and dishonesty.
Businesses blast new Biden rule allowing union reps to inspect job sites
May 23, 2024 // The National Federation of Independent Businesses, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, are helping lead the charge against the new “walkaround” rule, which takes effect May 31 of this year. “Small businesses want to create a safe work environment for their employees, and they understand the necessity of reasonable mandates and inspections to this end,” Beth Milito, executive director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center, said in a statement. “But the final rule issued by OSHA goes beyond ‘reasonable’. This rule will allow unlimited third-party individuals to initiate and then join an inspection of a private workplace under the guise of representing the employees. Not only does this violate a small business owner’s private property rights, it will not advance worker safety. It only makes small businesses susceptible to harassment from competitors, union representatives, and other parties intending to cause harm.”
Union advocate ‘salts’ quietly take jobs inside NC Amazon warehouse
May 7, 2024 // Around 5,000 people work at RDU1, Amazon's sprawling four-floor fulfillment center in the Wake County town of Garner. A few clock in harboring covert intentions. Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, or C.A.U.S.E., launched in early 2022 to unionize the facility's workforce.
Biden vetoes bid to repeal US labor board rule on contract, franchise workers
May 3, 2024 // Matthew Haller, president and CEO of the International Franchise Association, said the rule would cause particular harm to underrepresented groups including minorities, women and veterans who have often turned to franchising as a path to business ownership. “President Biden claims to be a champion for small businesses, but today he turned his back on franchising," Haller said in a statement. The rule was set to take effect in February, but was delayed and ultimately blocked by U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker in Tyler, Texas, in a lawsuit by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups.
How changes to ‘noncompete’ agreements and overtime could affect workers
April 26, 2024 // They’ll also have to determine how they will budget for the extra pay for overtime. Small businesses will have the toughest time. “Some are going to have to cut workers,” Hollis said. “Others will have to cut hours from existing workers. “Some are going to have to raise prices, and some probably won’t be able to figure out a way to make it economically work and wind up having to shut down, unfortunately.”
Biden claims to stand for women, but his new regulation will kill jobs that women want
March 30, 2024 // Patrice Onwuka, director of the Center for Economic Opportunity at the Independent Women’s Forum, is extremely concerned about how Biden’s rule will affect women. Jennifer Oliver O’Connell, a visiting fellow at the Independent Women's Forum, is a small business owner and independent contractor who learned firsthand about how government intrusion into this realm is harmful.
Commentary: ATR Applauds House Education & Workforce Committee for Defending Independent Contractors
March 22, 2024 // “Independent contractors want to be their own boss. But Biden and the Democrats want to force them to HAVE a boss,” said Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform. Americans for Tax Reform applauds the House Education & Workforce Committee majority for passing Congressman Kiley’s resolution to nullify the Biden DOL’s harmful reclassification of independent contractors.