A Message from Business Manager Chris Erikson
After only 70 days in office, can anyone still believe that Donald Trump is pro-worker?
During the last administration, President Joe Biden's Executive Order 14026 increased the minimum wage on federal contracts to $17.25/hour. Trump rescinded that order and reset the minimum back to $13.30. Biden's Executive Order 14119 expanded the use of registered apprenticeships in private industry and the federal government. Trump rescinded that order. Biden's Executive Order 14126 promoted labor standards on infrastructure jobs funded by the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act and more work by prioritizing applicants that created high-paying jobs. Issued on September 6, 2024, EO 14126 sought to promote labor standards and Project Labor Agreements (PLA) on projects receiving federal funds through the CHIPS Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and other legislation passed during the Biden era. Agencies distributing grants through these programs were to prioritize applicants that created high quality jobs while considering the following six factors: 1) Protect worker's right to organize by promoting PLA’s and union neutrality agreements; 2) Create high-wage jobs through prevailing wages and equitable compensation practices; 3) Create economic security by prioritizing projects that provide benefits to workers; 4) Support workforce development through registered apprenticeships and labor-management partnerships; 5) Encourage policies like local and targeted hiring; and 6) Support workplace safety. Trump rescinded all of that.
Biden's EO 14063 currently remains in effect. Pursuant to Biden's order, an executive department or agency awarding a contract for a large-scale construction project shall require contractors and subcontractors to negotiate or become party to a PLA. "Large-scale construction project" means a federal construction project within the United States for which the total estimated cost of the construction contract to the federal government is $35 million or more. The question is, how long will this last?
Regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion, Trump's EO 14151 "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing" does the following:
- Directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attorney General, and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to "coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and 'diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility' mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear."
- Directs agencies, departments, and commissions to "terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and 'environmental justice' offices and positions and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees. Agencies are also required to provide OMB with a list of all DEI, DEIA, or environmental justice positions, committees, programs, services, activities, budgets, and expenditures; a list of federal contractors that have provided DEI training or training materials to an agency or department; and list of grantees that received Federal funding to provide or advance DEI, DEIA, or environmental justice programs.”
Additionally, Trump's EO 14173 rescinds EO 11246, enacted in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson during the fight for civil rights. Now, federal contractors must certify that they do not operate any programs promoting DEl that violate any applicable federal anti-discrimination laws. It also orders a report identifying sectors of concern within an agency's jurisdiction and the most egregious DEl practitioners in the sector. Agencies are to adopt a plan to deter DEI programs and develop other strategies to encourage the private sector to end illegal DEI discrimination including potential federal litigation.
At the NLRB, Acting General Counsel William R. Cowen issued GC Memo 25-05, essentially rescinding all of the GC memos issued under his predecessor and the pro-union Biden administration. We can anticipate bad decisions going forward regarding things like the issuance of bargaining orders during election campaigns, interpretation of management rights, dues checkoff clauses surviving contract expiration, handling of workplace investigations, off-duty access of workers to company property, captive audience meetings, audio/video recordings of managers, and remedies for unfair labor practices (ULP).
Last Thursday, Trump took an axe to the collective bargaining rights of federal workers, issuing an Executive Order to revoke collective bargaining rights under the guise of "national security." According to a report by Government Executive, this executive order will eliminate collective bargaining rights for roughly 67 percent of the entire federal workforce and 75 percent of workers who are already in a union.
Like I said, the hits just keep on coming. Eternal vigilance, brothers and sisters.
