Both former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are courting workers on the campaign trail, pointing to their respective records and campaign promises in the hopes that this segment of voters will help propel them into the White House next January.
While another Trump administration might offer advantages to workplaces fighting unionization efforts and reinvigorate a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that’s more friendly to businesses, a Harris administration could push for additional workplace regulations, such as a higher minimum wage, while also seeking to lower startup costs for small businesses, all of which have implications for HR pros.
Which candidate manages to secure the presidency on Nov. 5 will have oversight over the labor board and other key federal agencies that can impact US workplaces and their HR teams as their agency heads pursue the president’s agenda.
Trump seeks union support despite employer-friendly record. The former president touts his economic achievement, suggesting that the US experienced “the greatest economy in the world” during his term, pointing to lower inflation and unemployment rates (ahead of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic—that picture changed as the virus gripped workplaces across the globe).
Campaigning in 2016, Trump was able to successfully leverage a dissatisfied class consciousness to catapult himself to the highest office in the land. While in office, however, the president’s agency leaders took a more traditional employer-side approach to regulations. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) called Trump’s time in office “devastating” for workers.
Trump NLRB appointees, the union contends, were too friendly with employers, hurting employees’ unionization efforts. The former president also finalized a rule restricting federal employees’ union activity, according to the Economic Policy Institute, and his OSHA team fielded fewer health and safety complaints, according to the National Employment Law Project. Based on this previous track record, HR leaders could potentially prepare for a Labor Department more friendly to businesses.
Despite his actions as president, Trump is now campaigning as a pro-worker president, pointing to his economic achievements to garner support from workers, even those in unions.
“President Trump [sic] is making lasting inroads with union leaders and broadening the Republican tent in a historic way," said Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt in a statement to USA Today. Teamsters president Sean O’Brien even made an appearance at this year’s GOP convention in July, vowing to withhold the powerful union’s endorsement until after the Democratic convention last month.
That said, only four police union organizations have reportedly endorsed the former president, though the president is vying for support from the Teamsters.
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In a break from GOP norms, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, also generally speaks of support for union workers and visited a picket line in Ohio, though differentiates between “good unions” and “bad unions.” He loosely opposes right-to-work legislation and the shift towards cheaper foreign labor by American business leaders.
Besides bringing more organized labor support from police, it’s unclear how another Trump presidency might impact labor policies relevant to HR pros. How the former president would direct his Labor Department—with additional support from police unions—in a second term is still unclear.
Harris wants to end taxes on tips, boost small businesses. Harris won the endorsement of a number of labor unions in the weeks after she announced her candidacy for president, including from UNITE HERE, which represents hospitality workers. The vice president earned the support of these workers in part by calling for an end to taxes on tips, a policy that Trump has also said he supports.
While some unions and labor leaders representing workers in the service industry support the elimination of taxes on tips, economists are skeptical that doing so would benefit low-wage tipped workers, as many don’t make enough money to pay federal income taxes.
The Harris campaign has said it would pursue such a policy through Congress, and that proposed legislation would include an income limit, as well as guardrails to ensure white-collar professionals such as hedge fund managers and lawyers don’t take advantage of the law.
Harris has also said that, as president, she would seek to raise the federal minimum wage, though the campaign has not shared by how much. Despite a push in recent years by some US lawmakers to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, it remains at $7.25, though some states require employers to pay workers a higher minimum than that.
On Sept. 4 the Harris campaign announced a tax proposal that could be relevant to HR pros seeking to staff up new businesses. Under the plan, owners of new small businesses would be eligible to deduct $50,000 from their startup expenses, a ten-fold boost from the current deduction of $5,000. The plan would also seek to make it easier for these businesses to secure occupational licensing, which refers to the legal requirements workers must meet to engage in certain professions.