It’s fair to say that there currently are too many shifting U.S. labor policies to wrap one’s arms around. Not to mention competing policies. New NLRB priorities signal business friendliness from the Board, but elsewhere in the GOP, Sen. Josh Hawley is working to pass Teamsters-friendly legislation that would expedite union contract negotiations in as many industries as possible. No more waiting around for Starbucks Workers United-like, multi-year negotiation sagas? If Hawley’s bill passes, yep, and removing employer bargaining power would also encourage more organizing.
The lesson here is that employers cannot become too complacent by assuming that business-friendly federal policies will be enough to keep unions at bay. Big Labor will always stick another foot into the infiltration door in any way possible by piggybacking on other policy moves. Currently, unions are also pouncing on federal funding cuts, as we discuss in this roundup:
#KillTheCuts: A gathering of unions – including the UAW, CWA, SEIU, and AFSCME – has declared April 8th a national day of action to push back against ongoing job and funding cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services. The UAW is particularly focused on cuts at the University Of California, where graduate student workers and researchers are fighting against layoffs and frozen funding. As a late-breaking update, ACLU and researchers filed lawsuits against the Trump administration.
Veterans Affairs: National Nurses United has sent VA nurses to the picket lines across the U.S., including in Chicago and Durham, NC, to protest further cuts after 1,000 VA workers were dismissed as part of the federal offloading of probationary workers. According to a leaked memo obtained by the Associated Press, another 80,000 VA workers are expected to be dismissed, reducing the VA workforce to 400,000 employees.
International Labor Cuts: The Department Of Labor (DOL) has canceled grants from the Bureau Of International Affairs that will, according to the Trump administration, save $240 million. The AFL-CIO has spoken out against how these cuts could potentially hamper efforts to fight labor exploitation outside the U.S., including in Mexico.
The takeaways: As those familiar with Big Labor shenanigans know, unions will frequently mimic altruistic behavior to woo workers and build goodwill for future organizing drives. In reality, they seize any window of opportunity they see to build momentum. Currently, these federal funding cuts, particularly the layoffs that accompany them, are at the top of unions’ lists in fueling worker frustrations.
Yet, as we have previously discussed, unions cannot stop layoffs from happening in any industry, and this rule also applies to the federal government (although Trump’s attempt to cancel union contracts for federal workers is a topic for another day). What remains vital is this: Throughout chaos and even in calmer times, all employers should stay on course by pinpointing and eliminating any reasons that their workers might find to unionize. They should not count on shifting policies to save the day when unions come calling.
