Vivian Dong is a student at Harvard Law School.
Donald Trump has selected Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his vice-president. Unions are unlikely to be happy with the choice. Pence’s administration successfully defended in court Indiana’s right-to-work law, passed by Pence’s predecessor. Pence also repealed the state’s common wage for construction projects. But Pence departs from Trump’s views on one of the issues dearest to Trump. Pence supports the TPP. In fact, as governor Pence urged Indiana’s members of Congress to support “fast-track” trade negotiation authority for President Obama. Pence’s record shows his commitment to free trade in other contexts. Before he became governor, Pence was a member of Congress, where he voted for every free trade agreement that came before him.
The House Appropriations Committee spent Wednesday and Thursday marking up the labor and health spending bill that emerged from subcommittee. The House bill includes provisions that block many major NLRB or Labor Department rulings of the past few years, including the DOL’s new overtime rule, the DOL’s new fiduciary rule, the NLRB’s new joint employer standard, and the NLRB’s rule to speed up union elections. It also seeks to allow H-2B visa employers to use their own private wage surveys to determine the prevailing wage they must pay workers.
The NLRB will begin reporting allegations of labor law violations by government contractors to a federal database, pursuant to President Obama’s Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order 13673, signed on July 31, 2014. The NLRB will not report just any unfair labor practice charge however; it will only consider the allegations of a NLRB regional director. The NLRB also will not report the charge if the employer settles the case before the issuance of a complaint. Contracting agencies will use the federal database to assess a contractor’s eligibility to bid on new contracts or to continue work on future contracts valued at more than $500,000.
Daily News & Commentary
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July 18
Trump names two NLRB nominees; Bernie Sanders introduces guaranteed universal pension plan legislation; the DOL ends its job training program for low-income seniors; and USCIS sunsets DALE.
July 17
EEOC resumes processing transgender workers' complaints; Senate questions Trump's NLRB General Counsel nominee; South Korean unions strike for reforms.
July 16
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lays off thousands of employees; attorneys for the Trump Administration argue against revealing plans to reduce the workforce of federal agencies; and the Fourth Circuit grants an emergency stay on the termination of TPS for thousands of Afghans.
July 15
The Department of Labor announces new guidance around Occupational Safety and Health Administration penalty and debt collection procedures; a Cornell University graduate student challenges graduate student employee-status under the National Labor Relations Act; the Supreme Court clears the way for the Trump administration to move forward with a significant staff reduction at the Department of Education.
July 14
More circuits weigh in on two-step certification; Uber challengers Seattle deactivation ordinance.
July 13
APWU and USPS ratify a new contract, ICE barred from racial profiling in Los Angeles, and the fight continues over the dismantling of NIOSH