Photograph Source: Michael Vadon – CC BY-SA 4.0
At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, when 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck, millions of Americans understand that if they are going to make it to the middle class, they need to be in a trade union so they can negotiate for decent wages, benefits and working conditions.
When Trump campaigned for president, he claimed he was on the side of the working class. But that’s not what he’s delivering. Rather than standing up for average Americans, he’s protecting the interests of some of the wealthiest people in the world.
When Donald Trump fires the most pro-union General Counsel in the history of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and illegally removes a member of this independent board, he is not a champion of the working class. He is a champion of unfettered corporate greed and union busters.
As a result of Trump’s unprecedented move, the NLRB no longer has a quorum and has effectively been shut down. What does this mean? It means that it will be far, far harder for workers to exercise their constitutional right to form a union and improve their standard of living. It means that during a union election, corporate bosses can illegally fire workers who vote to join a union. It means that corporate CEOs have free rein to illegally intimidate and coerce pro-union workers without recourse. It means that corporations can aggressively decide not to bargain in good faith with union workers or sign a first contract.
And because the NLRB is now dysfunctional, workers have no recourse.
Trump’s decision has already had disastrous consequences. Last week, workers at a Whole Foods grocery store in Philadelphia voted 130-100 to join the United Food and Commercial Workers union. But Whole Foods, owned by Jeff Bezos, has made it crystal clear that they will ignore this union victory and will not bargain with their union workers in good faith. Without a functioning NLRB, Whole Foods cannot be held accountable for its illegal behavior.
For months, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, the two wealthiest men alive, have been working overtime to abolish the NLRB. Why is that? These notorious anti-union billionaires want the absolute power to exploit their workers and violate labor law. The lower the wages they pay, the more money they make. Since Election Day, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have become $184 billion richer and are now worth $669 billion. But, apparently, that’s not enough.
As the Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee I will continue working with the trade union movement to oppose Trump’s decision and make it easier for workers to join unions, not harder.
