The Department of Labor has taken formal steps towards repealing the ‘persuader rule,’ a regulation that has been in full effect for less than a year.  As we summarized last May, the persuader rule was the Obama Department of Labor’s attempt to plug a loophole in the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act: it extends reporting requirements to management consultants who are involved in anti-union campaigns but don’t have direct contact with employees.

President Trump released his proposed budget on Tuesday, and analyses continue to emerge.  Sharon Block argues in Democracy Journal that proposed allocations for the National Labor Relations Board and the Office of Labor-Management Standards confirm President Trump’s anti-union stance.  The New York Times observes that the proposed budget–and the Trump Administration more generally–see unemployment as the result of choice.  This explains the budget’s cuts to public benefits and limited appropriations for support and job training.  We recapped early coverage yesterday.

Emmanuel Macron won the French presidency on a platform emphasizing pro-business reforms to the labor market.  Now, he is trying to deliver.  His proposal would make it easier to hire and fire workers and would replace sector-wide negotiation with company-wide negotiation.  Employers are urging speed while union leaders have called for slower consideration.  Reuters notes that France’s private sector has grown quickly since Macron’s election, with companies attributing that growth to optimism associated with his victory.

“The big divide in America is not between the coasts and the interior. It’s between strong communities and weak communities.”  The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman makes this pronouncement in a travelogue-style op-ed about three communities in middle America.  Friedman visited towns and cities in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana and found three main sources of optimism: forward-thinking local governments, collaboration between business and educational institutions, and the potential for emerging technologies like 3D printers to decentralize manufacturing.