Posts tagged U.S. Senate
Senate confirms Keith Sonderling, a business ally, as labor secretary
October 1, 2026 // As Sonderling officially takes over at the agency, labor and business groups expect its focus on Trump’s priorities to continue, including deregulation, expanding apprenticeships, reshoring manufacturing jobs and readying the workforce for the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence. Sonderling, who is popular in Republican policy circles in Washington, previously served as a top Labor official during Trump’s first term before an appointment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Committee on the Education and Workforce Grapples with Unions and Lawmakers Being Out of Touch
September 29, 2026 // Chougule also pointed to the lack of support by unions and certain representatives on the Employment and the Workforce Committee, for the Employee Rights Act. The Act would require unions to obtain opt-in permission from a member before using his or her dues and fees on political activity or policy advocacy—a provision which enjoys 81% support from union households.
Workers voted for a voice — not another Washington mandate
September 22, 2026 // But ALG raises a question Congress should take seriously: What happens when controversial noneconomic provisions become part of first-contract negotiations that ultimately end in binding arbitration? Who gets the final say? That question matters because the American labor movement isn’t simply a collection of union executives in Washington. It is millions of truck drivers, electricians, teachers, police officers, factory workers, construction workers and other Americans who get up every morning and earn a paycheck.
Commentary: Finally, it’s time for the Trump NLRB to go on offense
September 21, 2026 // The Cemex decision was legally problematic, and the precedent the Biden NLRB has set was challenged in federal courts. But now, Carey has targeted the Cemex decision for reversal, arguing the decision is “contrary to Supreme Court precedent and sound labor policy.” As labor policy expert Vinnie Vernuccio of the Institute for the American Worker explains: Her [Carey’s] brief notes that the Biden-era board ignored “the significant impact its decision had on worker free choice,” which she rightly calls a “backbone” of federal labor law. The General Counsel’s ultimate point could hardly be clearer or more pro-worker: “The right of employees to vote in a secret ballot election, free from coercion and from an informed position, once meant something — it should again.”
Commentary: Are Unions Rising from the Political Grave?
September 21, 2026 // Here again, however, there may be less than meets the eye. Despite its surprising bipartisan support, the FLCA would raise significant constitutional questions if enacted. By relying on a government-mandated arbitration panel to resolve labor disputes, the law effectively empowers the state to impose contractual terms on private parties—a form of what constitutional lawyers call “state action.” As attorneys Alex MacDonald and Vinnie Vernuccio observe: “[S]tate action opens the door to a slew of constitutional requirements and restrictions, notably to protect rights of free speech and association.”
Local Teamsters and the union’s Massachusetts-based chief at odds in crucial N.H. Senate race
September 9, 2026 // Brown began by talking about his own longtime membership in performing arts and media union SAG-AFTRA, which he leaned on to burnish his worker credentials when running against Warren. “There’s still people who are contributing dues, which I did for decades,” said Brown. “Chris Pappas has never done that. … What has he done for the unions? Like, what has he actually sponsored and passed that helps unions?” O’Brien noted Pappas’s co-sponsorship of the Faster Labor Contracts Act, a key legislative priority of labor unions. Brown and O’Brien both agreed it was “easy” for Pappas to do so, but when O’Brien asked him whether he would support the legislation, the Republican didn’t give a definitive answer, saying he would “learn more about that particular issue.”
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.
The Faster Labor Contracts Act: What You Need to Know
July 31, 2026 // While the FLCA may accelerate the negotiation process for both the employer and the union to reach an initial contract, faster does not always mean better, and the binding arbitration provision sidelines the interests of both parties and leaves the decisions about worker pay, benefits, and working conditions in the hands of arbitrators acting under the auspices of the federal government. The arbitrary timelines under the FLCA, while making the negotiation process move faster, may not give sufficient time for both parties to reach an initial contract that best represents the interests of both sides, given all the facts and circumstances of the working arrangement.
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.
House-Passed Faster Labor Contracts Act Is a Disgrace to Free Enterprise
June 18, 2026 // Setting a dangerous precedent, House Democrats and a few unprincipled Republicans today voted to pass the Faster Labor Contracts Act,” said ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman. “The FLCA imposes arbitrary and unrealistic deadlines on employers to finalize negotiations with newly elected unions or face ‘binding interest arbitration of first contracts.’ In practice, this means, for the first time in American history, a federal government bureaucrat will appoint an individual to dictate exactly what is included in a contract between two private negotiating parties.