HR leaders, employment law experts, and organized labor are preparing for a shift in political priorities impacting the workplace. Former President Biden often referred to himself as the “most pro-union president in history,” but as a new era of Department of Labor leaders take on top posts at the federal agencies designed to protect workers and oversee union activity, some are expecting an about face.
The US senate on Monday confirmed (67-32) Labor Sec. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the DOL, with the support of 17 Democrats from the Upper Chamber. Former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Commissioner Keith Sonderling is awaiting Senate confirmation to serve as Chavez-DeRemer’s top deputy. And President Trump in February tapped Elisabeth Messenger to lead the Office of Labor-Management Standards, the agency that enforces union financial reporting and transparency.
The US Chamber of Commerce’s head of government affairs, Rodney Davis, a former Republican lawmaker from Illinois, expects a “sea change” when it comes to the government’s approach to the workplace.
“Frankly, I think that’s good for employers,” he said. “It will be less about the government telling you how you should run your HR departments and rather you running your departments in a way that is more beneficial to you and your customers. That is not a bad direction to go in.”
On Lori. Once a cosponsor of Biden’s stalled signature labor legislation, the PRO Act, while serving in the US House, Sec. Chavez-DeRemer has now assured Republican colleagues during her Senate confirmation hearing that she would defend “right-to-work laws” and no longer support the pro-union legislation that would weaken them.
Touting her support from both unions and businesses, Sen. Bill Cassidy, who chairs the Senate’s powerful Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee, said Chavez-DeRemer “has the opportunity to bring these two groups together to secure a better future for all.”
Chavez-DeRemer's assumption to helm the agency has been celebrated by business leaders and even some unions. The AFL-CIO noted in response to her confirmation that Chavez-DeRemer is joining an administration “that’s been openly hostile to working people on many fronts in its first two months.”
“We urge Chavez-DeRemer to use her position in the Trump Cabinet to advocate forcefully for working people who depend on the Department of Labor to vigorously defend our wages, health and safety, and freedom to join a union,” AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler said in a statement.
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On Keith. During his confirmation hearing to join Chavez-DeRemer in leading the labor agency, Sonderling faced a grilling from lawmakers on another area of work HR leaders, employment lawyers, and big labor are eyeing: the federal government’s understanding of DEI.
As HR Brew previously reported, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) asked Sonderling during his confirmation hearing, who spent four years as a commissioner of the EEOC, a series of questions about what DEI means in a second Trump era, tripping up the experienced government official.
The moment echoed concerns from both inside and outside the federal government about the clarity of some of the president’s executive orders on diversity.
On Elisabeth. In its press release announcing Messenger’s appointment, the agency noted that “Elisabeth held leadership roles at several nonprofit organizations focused on free market policies and protecting First Amendment rights,” but did not reference her previous employers by name.
HuffPost reported last week that Messenger is the former CEO of the anti-union nonprofit Americans for Fair Treatment (AFFT), which “works to educate public sector employees about their constitutional rights around union membership,” according to its website.
What about HR? In a video open letter to an audience it refers to as “call politicos”—those who impact workplace policies, such as Trump, Messanger, Chavez-DeRemer, and Sonderling—SHRM leaders called on policymakers to focus on modernizing labor laws together in a bipartisan effort to encourage business and economic success.
“Outdated legal frameworks hinder organizations from building compliance models that can withstand political shifts,” SHRM CEO Johnny C. Taylor said in the video. “Without federal action agencies, courts and states will continue to create a confusing patchwork of regulations. Congress must step up bipartisan solutions to bring labor laws into the 21st century.”
And while many are preparing for an about face that could rock long-established standards and norms, SHRM’s chief of staff and top lobbyist, Emily Dickens, is calling on a bipartisan path forward for the sake of both workers and businesses.
“We need reform, not rescission,” Dickens said. “Updating our workplace policies doesn’t mean rolling back protections. It means making sure policies are clear, consistent and focused on compliance oriented measures for work, for today’s workforce and the economy.”