House Republicans are planning to launch a barrage of attacks on government institutions that administer to and support labor unions if the party takes control of the House this fall, new reporting reveals, showing that the GOP likely feels threatened by the growing labor movement that’s taken hold across the country in recent years.
Politico reportsRepublicans from the House Education and Labor Committee have created a list to target labor officials if they win control of the House during the midterm elections. Republicans are looking to go after labor regulators in the Biden administration, like Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, as well as the NLRB itself and the White House’s Task force of pro-workers.
Targeting these figures and curbing pro-union policies that the administration has put in place “will be one of their first orders of business,” Politico reports.
“I’ve joked with my colleagues that we will probably be holding two oversight hearings a day, because we’re going to be so busy with oversight,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (North Carolina), top GOP member of the House Education and Labor Committee, told Politico. “We’re going to hold the NLRB and [Department of Labor] accountable.”
Although major labor priorities such as the The Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO) has been stalledCongress: The Biden administration has been friendly toward unions; Joe Biden appointees like WalshLabor leaders have praised Abruzzo and Abruzzo as pro-union picks.
Abruzzo is a particular favorite. Reexamination and revision of federal labor lawsThese are predominantly skewedtowards anti-union employers to remove significant barriers that stand in their way of unions and the unionization of workers. Guidance that’s been handed down by Abruzzo — which labor leaders have said is crucial to giving power back to workers — is in the Republicans’ crosshairs.
The past year has seen a significant resurgence in the union movement and labor movement. Companies such as Microsoft and IBM have had successful union campaigns. Starbucks, Amazon Trader Joe’sAcross the country, they have risen rapidly. Workers are more dependent on their jobsTheir ability to halt work and strike action. These groups could be at the forefront in reducing the U.S.’s unionization rate. which has declinedThe past decade has seen a significant increase in the number of union members. Only about 10% of U.S. workers are members of a labor organization.
Progressive activists and labor advocates are embracing the new energy in labor organizing. They claim that such organizing is the future. public’s best chanceto combat the consolidated power corporations and the wealthy exercise on the U.S.A and its politicians.
Republicans have been making efforts to stop labor organizing, likely because they perceive a threat to corporate power. The Education and Labor Committee Republicans claim that they have sent 57 letters regarding labor and unions to Biden since his inauguration, 26 to the Labor Department and eight to NLRB.
Republicans have also attempted to address supposed “conflicts of interest” within the NLRB, though they appear to only object to pro-union officials and sentiments.
Last year, Foxx and Other Republicans sentThe NLRB was asked to address the fact two of its members were employed previously by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in a letter. They claimed that this was a conflict of interests, however the very mission of the NLRB is to protect workers’ rights and shield workers from anti-union employers.
The Republicans did not mention an established conflict of interestIn 2018, William Emanuel was an ex-board member and shareholder of the notorious anti-union law company Littler Mendelson. Investigative reporters found that Emanuel violated NLRB ethics rules while taking part in a case involving Littler. This was later confirmed by the board, but Emanuel remained a member of the board until August 2017.
Like union-busting Starbucks lawyersRepublicans are likely to seek to cast doubt on the legitimacy the NLRB, which would then permit them to cast doubt on the legitimacy any new or existing union.
