Adi Kamdar is a student at Harvard Law School.
While it has been covered many times in the past week, Marketplace further explores why labor had weakened support for the Democrats this election. While Trump did not win a majority of union households, “he did cut into President Barack Obama’s margin.” Various union members weigh in on why the ground game was not as effective as it was in past elections, and why various union members flipped from Clinton to Trump. For example, autoworkers, whose jobs the Obama administration restored, found themselves with lower pay and fewer benefits—a fact that Trump promised to fix.
Veterans made up 44% of all full-time federal government job hires, according to the Washington Post. Just over two-fifths of these hires were disabled veterans. This news isn’t all positive: former servicemembers do not stay in government in jobs as long as non-veterans. Furthermore, the preferred hiring of veterans has “fueled culture clashes in some federal offices” and “resentment from job candidates who did not serve and see their prospects for getting hired diminish.” Several federal agencies—including the Pentagon—have complained that they cannot hire the skilled candidates they want because of the veteran-hiring constraints.
As the Guardian and Bloomberg BNA note, Trump’s administration poses threats to union rights: erasing Obama’s overtime pay regulations, promoting right-to-work laws (perhaps even on a federal level), and filling the Supreme Court with an anti-union justice, threatening to tip the balance in the next Friedrichs-like case.
Oh, and Donald Trump is now hiring. The New York Times weighs in on his plans and choices for top spots.
Daily News & Commentary
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April 2
Local academic unions face pushback in negotiations
April 1
In today’s news and commentary, Aramark workers at Philly stadiums reach tentative agreement, Crystal Carey is poised to take general counsel at NLRB, President Trump’s nominees for key DOL positions, and the National Treasury Employees Union sues the Trump administration. UNITE HERE Local 274, which represents thousands of food service workers in the Philadelphia region, […]
March 31
Trump signs executive order; Appeals court rules on NLRB firing; Farmworker activist detained by ICE.
March 28
In today’s news and commentary, Wyoming bans non-compete agreements, rideshare drivers demonstrate to recoup stolen wages, and Hollywood trade group names a new president. Starting July 1, employers will no longer be able to force Wyoming employees to sign non-compete agreements. A bill banning the practice passed the Wyoming legislature this past session, with legislators […]
March 27
Florida legislature proposes deregulation of child labor laws, Trump administration cuts international programs that target child labor and human trafficking, and California Federal judge reversed course and ruled that unions representing federal employees can sue the Trump administration over mass firings.
March 25
Illinois warehouse quota bill vetoed; Minnesota residents organize; circuit split on NLRB deference continues