| | | | |  | | By Nick Niedzwiadek | With help from Ry Rivard and Lawrence Ukenye PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll be off starting Wednesday for the holidays but back to our normal schedule on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025.
| | LYING IN WAKE: President-elect Donald Trump could take office amid another port strike, throwing further uncertainty to how he will be able to juggle the competing business and labor voices inside his coalition. Dockworkers along the East and Gulf coasts could return to the picket lines come Jan. 15 — five days before the inauguration — if they can’t reach a deal with the shipping companies on the role of automation in their industry. The dockworkers ended a three-day strike shortly before Election Day after securing wage increases of about 60 percent over six years, but the detente wasn’t final and left open fraught issues over the use of technology at some of the nation’s largest ports, including New York and New Jersey. The union, the International Longshoremen's Association, is adamantly opposed to new automation — fearing that it would cost well-paying jobs for blue-collar workers and pad operators’ bottom lines. The United States Maritime Alliance, which represents port operators and their major shipping companies, counters that this technology makes dockwork less hazardous, improves efficiency and is necessary to keep pace with ports in parts of Asia and Europe. The two sides remain far apart on the issue, as seen by their public statements. The industry casts new technologies as an “evolution” that delivers will mean higher shipping volumes and higher wages to workers. The union acknowledges some port upgrades are necessary, but said some data disparaging the efficiency of American ports is based on a “reckless mischaracterizations of our industry and our work.” As of late last week, they had yet to schedule their next round of bargaining sessions. Activity should pick up after the holidays, though that will set up a high-stakes flurry before the pause ends in mid-January. So far, Trump seems to have cast his lot with the ILA, which has strategically depicted the other side as greedy foreign-owned businesses. “They’ve got record profits, and I’d rather these foreign companies spend it on the great men and women on our docks, than machinery, which is expensive, and which will constantly have to be replaced,” Trump posted on social media Dec. 12 following a meeting with the ILA’s fiery leader, Harold Daggett. “In the end, there’s no gain for them, and I hope that they will understand how important an issue this is for me.” However, Trump would face immense pressure from business groups to take action to end a protracted work stoppage, either through the bully pulpit or invoking emergency authority under the Taft-Hartley Act to seek a judicial injunction blocking a strike. President Joe Biden emphatically ruled out the idea as a betrayal of organized labor, though it has been used a number of times in the past by presidents of both parties. Already the Alliance for Chemical Distribution has called on ILA and USMX to further extend their current deal for 60 days in order to stave off disruption. The Biden administration, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, were highly engaged in negotiations during the fall and it remains to be seen how a Republican White House would handle the situation. Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Sean Duffy — Trump’s picks to lead the Labor and Transportation departments, respectively — will be in the middle of the Senate confirmation and high-level administration posts will still need to be filled. GOOD MORNING. It’s Monday, Dec. 23. Welcome back to Morning Shift, your go-to tipsheet on labor and employment-related immigration. Employers continue to innovate in the layoff-works-as-impersonally-as-possible space. Send feedback, tips and exclusives to nniedzwiadek@politico.com and lukenye@politico.com. Follow us on X at @NickNiedz and @Lawrence_Ukenye. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.
| | FIRST IN SHIFT: The AFL-CIO is naming Darrick Hamilton as the federation’s chief economist. Hamilton is a professor of economics and urban policy at The New School and director of its institute on race, power and political economy. “His research on the racial wealth gap and economic justice, his visionary scholarship on ideas like ‘Baby Bonds’, and his bold thinking honed in campaign and legislative settings will be an invaluable asset to our work,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement. “I look forward to Dr. Hamilton’s partnership as we continue the fight to build an economy that works for working people.” The federation’s previous chief economist, William Spriggs, died in June 2023.
| | | | You read POLITICO for trusted reporting. Now follow every twist of the lame duck session with Inside Congress. We track the committee meetings, hallway conversations, and leadership signals that show where crucial year-end deals are heading. Subscribe now. | | | | | | | | | PAY IT FORWARD: A group that promotes expanded access to employee stock ownership plans is putting six-figures in support of Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s bid to lead the Labor Department under Trump. “President-elect Trump made an excellent selection, she has a truly outstanding record of support for our businesses,” ESOP Association President James Bonham said in a release. “She understands clearly how poor regulation and agency agendas can directly impact business success.” The group said its efforts will include a January fly-in day at the Capitol as well as a paid advertisement campaign. Flip side: “DOL Sues Over New York BBQ Co.'s $99M Stock Plan Deal,” from Law360. NEW NOM: Trump on Sunday named Andreessen Horowitz managing partner Scott Kupor as his pick to lead the Office of Personnel Management, the agency that will be at the center of his administration’s efforts to overhaul the federal workforce. “Scott will bring much needed reform to our federal workforce,” Trump said in a social media post. The position requires Senate confirmation. OPM under Biden issued a rule that is designed to prevent anything resembling Trump’s Schedule F directive that stripped certain federal workers of civil service protections — making it easier to fire or demote them at will. But Trump is expected to move to repeal that regulation, and possibly take other action to expedite the return of Schedule F. More transition news: “Major Trump donors who complained of immigrant ‘invasion’ used Mexican workers illegally, sources allege,” from The Guardian.
| | | WATCHING WEARABLES: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Thursday issued an informal warning to employers to be mindful of their obligations under workplace anti-discrimination laws when using wearable technology to monitor employees. The agency released a fact sheet to illustrate the types of uses that are permissible or not, as well as the accommodations that employers may need to provide applicable employees to comply with federal law. “If they do choose to bring this technology into the workplace, employers must be vigilant in following the law to ensure that they do not create a new form of discrimination,” EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows said in a release. “There is no high-tech exemption to the nation’s civil rights laws.” More agency news: “DOL’s Ali Khawar Stepping Down Ahead of Trump Inauguration,” from PLANSPONSOR.
| | | EXIT INTERVIEW: Sen. Bob Casey’s (D-Pa.) departure from Capitol Hill will leave the chamber without a key advocate for disabled workers, even as the lawmaker fought in his final days to tag on a provision to end the subminimum wage to a reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Despite wishing the Biden administration proposed its subminimum wage rule sooner, he still believes legislation is the best way to scrap the 14(c) exception in the Fair Labor Standards Act that allows employers to pay disabled workers less. “Even if they had done this years ago, as constructive as that would have been, I think you still need a statutory foundation for it in order to make sure not just that you're changing policy, but that it goes well,” he told Shift. He also touted the work on disability advocacy he did with Democratic Sens. Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and Cory Booker (N.J.) and hope they carry the torch forward into the next Congress, including considering a bill that would bolster the home health care workforce after Casey proposed similar legislation last year. HELP INCOMING: The Republican side of the Senate HELP Committee is getting several new members, according to a list released by incoming Majority Leader John Thune. Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) will all be joining the committee next term, our Ursula Perano reports. NO RAGRETS: Outgoing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) had a blasé retort to the outrage she faced from labor unions and progressives for helping to sink Lauren McFerran’s nomination for another term on the National Labor Relations Board. “Don’t give a shit,” she told Semafor. More from the Hill: "House Republican to OSHA: Drop worker heat protections," from POLITICO's E&E News.
| | | OMNI-BUST: Supporters of the bipartisan deal to reshape the federally funded workforce development system that was waylaid amid Congress’ year end continuing-resolution escapade are lamenting how close they came to achieving some long-sought reforms. “There has been so much momentum over the past year, and there is some nervousness that after getting so close there may not be as much energy and focus heading forward,” said Taylor Maag, director of workforce policy at Jobs for the Future. “There’s going to be so much happening in the new year, it’s a good question of when they’ll be able to turn their attention to this.” The glass-half-full perspective: Three of the four key committee leaders who negotiated the package known as the A Stronger Workforce for America Act, which would reauthorize and alter the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, will still lead their parties on those panels next year and a potentially factitious Congress could at some point be in the market for a readymade bill that can pass on a bipartisan basis. SAFETY FIRST: 2023 saw a 3.7 percent dip in workplace fatalities following an uptick the prior year, according to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Across the U.S., 5,283 people died from on-the-job injuries, down from 5,486 in 2022. Transportation-related incidents accounted for more than a third of all fatalities. The fatal injury rate for both Hispanic and Black workers remained higher than for workers overall, though each moved closer to that average. IN MEMORIAM: Michael Lotito, the founder and co-chair of Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute, died last week, the firm announced on Friday. Lotito was perhaps the foremost management-side voice in federal labor policy, and he was regularly sought out by Republican lawmakers and reporters — including POLITICO — alike for insights on employers’ perspective of issues before the NLRB and other agencies. More workplace news: “Grindr to Give Staff $300,000 for Fertility Treatments, Adoption,” from Bloomberg.
| | | | POLITICO Pro's unique analysis combines exclusive transition intelligence and data visualization to help you understand not just what's changing, but why it matters for your organization. Explore how POLITICO Pro will make a difference for you. | | | | | | | | | TRY, TRY AGAIN: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation increasing safety requirements for warehouse operators intended to reduce the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries among workers. NY S5081, which builds upon 2022’s Warehouse Worker Protection Act, will require employers to design and implement an injury reduction program that includes on-site evaluations, first-aid care, and worker training. It requires a “qualified ergonomist” to sign off on the plans, and the law is scheduled to take effect June 1. TIP(S) OF THE SPEAR: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin last week unveiled a proposal to exempt tips from the state’s income tax, in a bid to effectuate a policy Trump campaigned on at the presidential level. Youngkin’s office estimated that the change, which would need buy in from Democrats who control the General Assembly, would save workers — primarily in industries like food service, hospitality and personal care — $70 million per year. He also posted a receipt to social media with “no tax on tips” scrawled on it, vowing to evangelize for it that way until it becomes law. Related: “Trump promised no tax on tips. Why few tipped restaurant workers will likely benefit,” from the Los Angeles Times. More state news: “The California Job-Killer That Wasn’t,” The Atlantic.
| | | — Opinion: “Dear Federal Workers: Don’t Quit,” from Max Stier for POLITICO Magazine. — “US Water Crisis Looms As Experienced Workers Begin to Retire,” from Bloomberg. — “Immigration drives US population growth to highest rate in 23 years as residents pass 340 million,” from The Associated Press. — “Federal employee groups prepare to fend off attacks by Trump and allies,” from The Washington Post. THAT’S YOUR SHIFT! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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