Posts tagged Virginia Foxx
Foxx Expands Investigation of Biden-Harris Scheme to Use Pension Assets for Big Labor
July 31, 2024 // “The Committee on Education and the Workforce (Committee) is investigating attempts by the Biden-Harris administration and certain pension funds to leverage retirement assets for the benefit of organized labor. The Internal Revenue Code (Code) makes public pensions eligible for significant tax subsidies if, among other things, their benefits are part of a plan ‘for the exclusive benefit of [an employer’s] employees or their beneficiaries.’ The Committee seeks information to determine whether the law is being undermined by the Biden-Harris administration and violated by certain pension funds. … The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has an obligation to enforce the provisions of the Code to ensure that taxpayers are not improperly subsidizing a retirement plan that does not, in fact, comply with the Code’s exclusive benefit requirement. To the extent that CalPERS is using plan assets for the benefit of social or political causes, the plan’s tax status is no longer valid.”
Has Pushback to Full of ‘S’ Labor Unions Finally Arrived?
June 10, 2024 // Written by I4AW’s Sam Adolphsen and F. Vincent Vernuccio, the study warns that the initial “Environmental” focus of ESG is being supplanted by labor leaders, who are focusing on the leftist acronym’s “social” component in order to intimidate companies and force membership growth: With help from the whole of Biden’s big government, Big Labor is replicating the ESG strategies used by environmentalists and other activists. These groups aim to cajole fossil fuel-producing companies and other businesses they consider socially unacceptable into abandoning profitable business ventures. The tactics of the Big Labor plan call for hijacking the shareholder resolution process through proxy voting and shareholder activism to force pro-union policies. Unlike typical shareholder proposals, those supported by Big Labor do not seek to advance shareholder value. Instead, they seek to increase union membership and strengthen Big Labor’s power.
Opinion: Congress should reject the Democrats’ workplace micromanagement bill
May 14, 2024 // On May 2, Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) rolled out the Warehouse Worker Protection Act with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, legislation that enacts a host of new government mandates on workplaces. Like the failed “Protecting the Right to Organize Act,” its end goal is to force more American workers into unions. The bill targets companies that use so-called “quotas,” framing attempts by employers to evaluate employee performance as inherently anti-worker. Despite the scary narratives progressives peddle, tracking employee performance is a common business practice, and employers use these metrics to ensure employees are operating safely and efficiently.
COMMENTARY: Julie Su Subpoenaed Again After Failure to Comply with House Committee
May 9, 2024 // Julie Su has shown a flagrant disregard for congressional oversight. She already made clear that she does not believe Congress’s advice and consent is necessary for her to serve indefinitely as Acting Secretary, having sat in the position for over a year despite being rejected by the Senate. Now Su has shown repeatedly that she does not care about Congress’s power to request department records and hold the executive branch accountable for its actions.
Foxx, Good Bring DOL Chief Lawyer into Dead Teamsters Pension Overpayment Investigation
April 4, 2024 // “The Committee recognizes that, as Solicitor of Labor, you are the principal counsel to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, who also serves as the acting chair of PBGC’s Board of Directors… The Committee is interested in what advice and legal interpretations you and SOL have provided to PBGC regarding its legal authority to recapture these overpayments from both before and after DOL’s publication of its statement.” The letter continues: “In addition, the Committee understands that SOL could play a role in how PBGC responds to inquiries from Congress and the public. Unfortunately, despite multiple inquiries, PBGC’s responses have been unacceptably incomplete. PBGC’s failure to provide full and forthright information is obstructing the Committee’s ability to consider H.R. 7135, the Ghost Handouts and Overpayments Stop Today Act (GHOST Act), or similar legislation to ensure PBGC meets its obligation to reclaim any overpayment it made in the SFA program.”
Union Corruption Case Exposes Missing Millions in Pennsylvania
April 4, 2024 // In Pennsylvania, a union corruption case has revealed that officials misused $1.8 million in funds for a trust that remains unaccounted for, leading to the destruction of evidence regarding its existence. The case, initiated in 2020 by The Fairness Center on behalf of Cory Yedlosky, William Weyant, and Chris Taylor—three workers at a state prison—alleges the misappropriation of $20,000 by the treasurer of the local chapter of the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association between 2009 and 2018. Despite raising concerns with union executive board members in Harrisburg, the workers’ complaints were disregarded. An internal forensic audit later revealed over $400,000 in credit charges for personal expenses by local and state union leaders, including a $12,000 Rolex, Miami Dolphins game tickets, $3,000 bar tabs, and luxury golf trips. In 2023, five senior union officials were charged with forgery and theft, with court orders to repay nearly $82,000, of which about $23,000 has been returned.
Legal documents say union funneled $1.8M into lost trust fund
April 2, 2024 // New legal documents filed recently in an ongoing union corruption case in Pennsylvania say officials funneled $1.8 million into a trust fund that’s yet to be recovered and then destroyed evidence of its existence. The lawsuit, filed in 2020 by The Fairness Center on behalf of three workers at a state prison in Huntingdon, accused the treasurer of the local chapter of the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association of misappropriating $20,000 between 2009 and 2018. The three workers – Cory Yedlosky, William Weyant, and Chris Taylor – even shared their concerns with union executive board members in Harrisburg but were ignored, according to court documents.
Stalled Labor Pick Julie Su Lets Herself Off the Hook for California’s Missing Billions
April 2, 2024 // California’s auditor notes that the U.S. Department of Labor has issued helpful “guidance” for state finance officials in “Unemployment Insurance Program Letter 05-24.” Flip over to the U.S. Department of Labor’s DOL 05-24 letter and you learn what Julie Su is up to. The DOL memo says a Covid-era agreement between the feds and state unemployment departments “required states to use the CARES Act funds ‘for the purpose for which the money was paid to the state’ and to ‘take such action as reasonably may be necessary to recover for the account of the United States all benefit amounts erroneously paid and restore any lost or misapplied funds paid to the state for benefits or the administration of the Agreement.” But how will the federal DOL know whether states took “such action as reasonably necessary to recover” the billions stolen by fraudsters? Because the states will tell them so, or, as the DOL put it in inimitable Orwellian language: “Applying state finality laws to the CARES Act UC programs means that, in many instances, the state will not need to take retroactive action to resolve monitoring findings.”
Foxx on DOL’s Final Walkaround Rule and Brazen Big Labor Infiltration of OSHA
April 1, 2024 // "This rule has absolutely nothing to do with keeping workers safe. Rather it weaponizes OSHA inspections—harming workers’ safety while also increasing employers’ costs. This isn’t surprising given this administration’s zeal for regulatory overreach. "What’s worse, under this rule unionizing efforts and other activist campaigns are put ahead of safety efforts. So much for OSHA’s vital mission of protecting the health and safety of the nation’s workers. It appears the Biden administration’s only concern is propping up Big Labor’s agenda. Mr. President, workers and job creators hear your message loud and clear."
Commentary: Biden fosters Big Labor cronyism
March 25, 2024 // It is bad enough that union dues go to political activity that workers may or may not agree with. It is worse that some union bosses are stealing money from the workers that they claim to represent. Every dollar that a union boss steals is one dollar less that a worker can put toward sending their children to school, putting food on the table, or building a nest egg. The Biden administration enables union corruption because union dues overwhelmingly go toward electing Democrats. Biden’s refusal to pull union bosses away from the trough directly harms workers. Unlike Biden, House Republicans are leading the charge to stamp out union fraud and corruption.