Photograph Source: Rick Obst – CC BY 2.0
The Trump regime has taken aim at yet another pro-worker policy, suggesting once again that it is both familiar and on board with Project 2025. Earlier this month, the US Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) ceased facilitating “card check” for union certification – a move designed to hinder workers’ ability to form a union.
Also called majority sign-up, card check is a fair and effective way to determine that workers want union representation. Workers who support a union simply sign authorization cards indicating as much, and if a majority of those eligible sign cards, the union is recognized. From there, the union can commence contract negotiations with the employer. Compared to secret ballot elections, card check reduces opportunities for employer interference, allowing more workers who want unions to form them.
The Trump regime’s actions have so far stopped short of banning card check altogether, which is what Project 2025 proposes (Project 2025’s proposal also involves Congress, but the Trump regime appears to prefer usurping Congressional authority to working with lawmakers). Nevertheless, the move at FMCS took away an important avenue that made card check certification more seamless and accessible. US employers weren’t obligated to honor card check certification before this, but removing FMCS services may further dissuade employers who might have been persuaded otherwise.
Undermining card check may seem insignificant, especially in light of news that the Trump regime is lawlessly disregarding and, in some cases, unilaterally terminating Collective Bargaining Agreements for public sector workers. But evidence suggests that card check is among the more consequential policies that make the path to unionization less fraught for workers. Contrary to claims from bosses, card check is no less democratic than a secret ballot election. The former is also better suited to the proposition because unionizing decisions are fundamentally about whether to undertake a collective endeavor rather than how to fill a pre-existing slot.
Beyond codifying card check as a valid means of union certification, a more pro-worker system would remove employers from certification proceedings altogether. Such a system would also guarantee public sector employees the same rights to form unions and bargain collectively as their peers in the private sector. Given the Trump regime’s anti-worker approach, however, state and local governments must take action to safeguard workers’ union rights. States and localities that have not already done so should pass laws to validate union certifications via card check — laws that would immediately benefit state and local government workers while acting as a potential backstop should the situation continue to unravel at the federal level.
The Trump regime is currently employing a series of bad faith arguments to justify a lawless assault on workers’ rights. The dismantling of card check certification is just one piece of a broader strategy to weaken organized labor and undermine collective bargaining. But with or without official union recognition, workers acting collectively have tremendous power. While federal policy may shift, the labor movement’s strength ultimately depends on workers themselves—and they don’t need permission from those in power to organize. As the Trump regime ramps up its attacks, workers must respond by doubling down on collective action.
This first appeared on CEPR.
