Jacqueline Rayfield is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News and Commentary, Senator J.D. Vance joins Donald Trump’s campaign, targeting pro-labor voters, Project 2025 includes gutting the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and Seattle Boeing workers prepare for a strike vote.
Senator J.D. Vance joined the Republican ticket as Trump’s vice-presidential nominee on Monday. While Vance has voiced support for unions during his career, his track record supporting labor law is mixed. Vance joined an autoworkers picket line in 2023 and claimed he is “not a fan” of right to work laws. In office, however, Vance opposed the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which aimed to close gaps and expand worker protections under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Vance also rejected pro-worker nominees to the NLRB and voted against the NLRB’s expanded protections for employees of joint employers. Prominent labor leaders at Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Association of Flight Attendants voiced skepticism of Vance’s ostensibly pro-labor stance.
As the Republican party courts labor leaders, critics in the labor movement analyze how conservative policy will affect organized labor. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank in Washington, D.C., published Project 2025, a policy wish list for a Trump presidency. Critics point out that the plan includes initiatives to abolish overtime law, outlaw public sector unions, cut back on health and safety protections for workers, and eliminate the federal minimum wage.
In Seattle, Boeing workers prepare for a strike vote today. Union leadership say they hope a strong turnout for the vote will send a strong message to Boeing and the negotiating committee. Nearly 30,000 union workers are eligible to vote to authorize a strike when their contract expires on September 12. Their negotiating committee aims to win a 40% raise in their historic negotiation—the first for this group of workers in 16 years.
Daily News & Commentary
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July 17
Senator J.D. Vance joins Donald Trump’s campaign, targeting pro-labor voters, Project 2025 includes gutting the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and Seattle Boeing workers prepare for a strike vote.
July 16
Teamsters president speaks at RNC; Starbucks decertification campaign fails; Biden taps new PBGC leader
July 15
Workday bias suit moves forward; DOL proposes new LMRDA rule; Bronx Defenders to go on ULP strike
July 14
Teamsters president to speak at RNC; youth work permit requirement rollbacks; eulogies to Jane McAlevey.
July 12
Dollar Tree and OSHA settle; union leaders split over Biden support; new report on low wages.
July 11
President Biden meets with union leadership and a New York law firm announces new applicant screening policy regarding student protest activity.