As a candidate in 2020, Joe Biden regularly stated that he would be the most pro-union president in history and would make increased unionization a top priority of his administration.
To meet this pledge, the president has employed a “whole of government” approach that has mobilized the entire apparatus of the federal government to promote one special interest over all others, and at every turn, the U.S. Chamber has pushed back, fighting for employers, workers, and communities across the country. The Chamber will continue to stand up and call out the current administration’s blatant push to advance the labor union agenda.
Here's a timeline of some of the most egregious actions the administration has recently taken to put its thumb firmly on the scale for labor unions, and the Chamber’s responses and actions:
November 2023
Administration Action: White House announces global labor strategy.
Chamber Response: U.S. Chamber issues statement on the administration’s strategy to promote labor unions at all costs: “A sweeping global directive that federal agencies elevate union special interests above all other priorities is misguided and will hurt American businesses engaged in international commerce along with the millions of workers they employ.”
Administration Action: NLRB issues rule that prevent employers from disciplining workers for engaging in sexual harassment if it has any tie to organizing activity.
Chamber Response: U.S. Chamber submits comments to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: “Employers will face a Hobson's choice: should they permit workplace harassment that would otherwise be banned, or should they protect employees and maintain a harassment free workplace and accept the likelihood that the NLRB will impose a union favorable Cemex bargaining order?”
Administration Action: NLRB Joint Employer Rule expands labor law liability for workers a company doesn’t actually employ and workplaces they don’t control.
Chamber Response: U.S. Chamber files lawsuit against NLRB: “It defies common sense to say that businesses can be held liable for workers they don’t employ at workplaces they don’t own or control. The NLRB has been overturning numerous precedents at the behest of labor unions, so the Chamber is suing to rein in this out-of-control agency.”
Administration Action: OSHA proposed a rule to allow union organizers to accompany OSHA inspectors at non-union workplaces.
Chamber Response: U.S. Chamber submits comments to Assistant Secretary of Labor: The Chamber is opposed to the proposed rule that is a significant change in the well-established interpretation of this OSHA regulation and a major encroachment into the rights of a vast number of private employers, many of which are small businesses, as OSHA seeks to politicize and weaponize the agency's inspections.
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October 2023
Chamber Action: U.S. Chamber issues White Paper: Biden Administration's 'Whole of Government' Approach to Promoting Labor Unions: The Biden administration's "whole of government" approach to promoting labor unions is harmful to workers, employers, and the economy.
August 2023
Administration Action: NLRB issued a decision on employee handbooks, preventing employers from disciplining workers for using profanity in the workplace.
Chamber Response: U.S. Chamber publishes article: “The real-world implications for employers are anything but trivial, as the NLRB is once again using an indecipherable standard to second-guess every phrase in employee handbooks.”
Administration Action: NLRB issues Cemex Decision allowing unions to organize workers without a secret ballot election.
Chamber Response: U.S. Chamber issues statement: “The Cemex decision… will result in fundamental and repeated denials of workers’ right to make a free and fair choice about unions using private ballot elections. Congress has repeatedly rejected mandating card check organizing. Yet the NLRB imposes it with the stroke of a pen.”
June 2023
Administration Action: NLRB issued a decision making it more difficult to classify workers as independent contractors so they can be unionized.
Chamber Response: U.S. Chamber publishes article: New independent contractor test threatens the flexibility and earnings of workers – and goes against D.C. Circuit Court.
April 2023
Administration Action: FTC issues proposed rule seeking unprecedented authority to ban non-compete agreements.
Chamber Response: U.S. Chamber submits comments to the FTC: The Commission’s categorical ban would sweep in millions of noncompete agreements that pose no harm to competition, and in fact benefit the U.S. business community, economy, workers, and consumers.
Chamber Response: U.S. Chamber leads coalition comment letter to FTC: We strongly oppose the proposal because noncompetes serve vital business and employee interests and because the FTC lacks legal authority to issue the proposed rule.
October 2022
Administration Action: DOL proposed a new independent contractor rule to make it more difficult for workers to maintain Independent Contractor status.
Chamber Response: U.S. Chamber issues statement: The proposed rule does not provide the clarity of the 2021 rule it seeks to replace and has a number of concerning provisions that could have significant negative impacts on workers and small businesses.
Chamber Response: U.S. Chamber submits comments to DOL (Dec. 2022): Use of independent contractors offers workers (as well as businesses) important advantages over employment status. It is a disservice to both businesses and to the independent contractors themselves—as well as consumers—to take away their right to choose and to rewrite the structure of their economic relationships.
