A national expert on issues related to the American workforce, Molly Conway delivers AFFT’s monthly federal update to keep you apprised of the latest in DC. If you’re a federal employee, you won’t want to miss this.
Welcome to the July and early August edition of AFFT’s Monthly Federal Labor Policy Update – covering top-line developments in federal labor and employment policy through the end of the summer session of Congress. Congress is now out for August recess and will return September 9 for a whopping three weeks of work before breaking again until the week after the presidential election.
July was one of the most eventful months in recent political history. First, just days before the Republican National Convention, President Trump was shot during a rally in Pennsylvania in an attempted assassination. On opening day of the RNC, President Trump announced Senator JD Vance (R-OH) as his pick for Vice President. The same day, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien spoke at the RNC – the first time in history a Teamsters President addressed the RNC. To date, the Teamsters have not endorsed any presidential candidate this election cycle.
Shortly after the RNC concluded, President Biden announced he would not seek reelection and instead endorsed Vice President Harris who was subsequently chosen as the Democratic nominee for president. Vice President Harris then announced Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate.
Neither vice presidential nominee is without controversy (whether real or “fake news”). What is certain is that both nominees have taken strong positions on labor issues in their current public service roles. It remains to be seen whether their positions on labor issues will evolve as they continue to hit the campaign trail.
The Democratic National Convention begins August 19 in Chicago, Illinois. Expect the proverbial gloves to come off after the DNC – on both sides of the aisle.
If you want to keep apprised where candidates are in the polls, I recommend checking out the following websites:
We’ll do a deeper dive on the election in a forthcoming update. For now, buckle up and enjoy the ride!
What’s Happening (or Not) in Congress
- The House and Senate made strides to pass labor appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2025 with the appropriations committees in both chambers passing their respective spending bills out of committee. Generally, the House bill contains significant cuts in funding to labor agencies and multiple policy riders – including blocking many of the Biden administration’s controversial labor rules. The Senate bill is largely consistent with the White House’s funding request. Given the significant cuts and the policy riders proposed by the House bill, it is unclear whether the chambers will reach agreement on a final labor spending package. The current appropriation law expires September 30. (July 10 and 25)
- Anne Marie Wagner was confirmed by the Senate to be a Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). Wagner previously served as Vice Chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board and Associate Special Counsel at the Office of Special Counsel. (July 10)
- Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) introduced the Worker Enfranchisement Act, legislation that would require that in a workplace unionization election at least two-thirds of eligible employees participate – otherwise the results will be set aside. Of note, Rep. Walberg is one of two Republicans (along with Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT)) who have thrown their hat in the ring to seek the top spot on the House Education and the Workforce (E&W) Committee next Congress. (August 2)
Committee Action
- House E&W Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent a letter to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Jake Sullivan, requesting information regarding the Biden administration’s “attempts to sway the outcome” of the unionization vote at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama in May. The letter alleges that U.S. government officials called German government officials to “put its thumb on the scale to benefit the [union].” (July 3)
- Following the recent Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decision overturning Chevron deference (see the June Update for more background), Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA) sent letters to the agencies under the committee’s jurisdiction requesting information regarding how the agencies plan to comply with the new SCOTUS decision. Chairwoman Foxx also sent similar letters to the agencies under her committee’s jurisdiction. (July 1 and July 10)
- The House E&W Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing titled, “Confronting Union Antisemitism: Protecting Workers from Big Labor Abuses” – highlighting Beck rights, pervasive union antisemitism, and the National Right to Work Act. One of the witnesses was an AFFT member – Will Sussman – who spoke to the antisemitism he faces from his union as a graduate student at MIT, stating “at every turn, the law has failed me.” (July 9)
- The minority’s opening statement is available here.
- Senate HELP Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) released an interim report titled, “Peak Seasons, Peak Injuries: Amazon Warehouses are Especially Dangerous During Prime Day and the Holiday Season – and the Company Knows It.” This report is part of Chair Sanders’ ongoing investigation into Amazon workplace safety practices. (July 16)
- The House E&W Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing titled, “Safeguarding Workers and Employers from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Overreach and Skewed Priorities” – highlighting concerns with OSHA’s recent rulemaking (including the heat injury and illness and walkaround rules) and OSHA’s lack of action where needed (tree care standard). (July 24)
- The minority’s opening statement is available here.
- House E&W Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) introduced the Labor Enforcement to Securely (LET’S) Protect Workers Act (H.R. 9137), legislation that would increase civil monetary penalties on employers for violating labor and employment laws. This legislation follows a report released by Ranking Member Scott in April titled, “A Slap on the Wrist: How it Pays for Unscrupulous Employers to Take Advantage of Workers.” (July 26)
- The Senate HELP Committee held an executive session (aka markup) of three presidential nominees, including two National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) nominees – Lauren McFerran to serve as Chair (a renomination) and Joshua Ditelberg to serve as a Republican Member – and Mark Eskenazi to be a Member of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (for more information on the nominees, see the June Update). The nominees were approved by the committee and now await a vote by the full Senate. (August 1)
- As a reminder, if the NLRB nominees are confirmed this Congress, the NLRB will remain Democratically-controlled until at least the end of August 2026, regardless of who wins the presidential election in November. Members of the NLRB may only be removed “for cause” – meaning they serve set five-year terms and cannot be removed from their positions solely because of a change in political leadership.
- In advance of the markup, HELP Ranking Member Cassidy sent a letter to Chair McFerran “demanding accountability from NLRB for abusing its authority to influence union elections in favor of union organizers at the expense of American workers.” (July 15)
- The Senate HELP Committee continues to work on their draft Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) modernization legislation. While many hoped the committee would reach bipartisan agreement and markup the legislation before the August recess, a few provisions remain outstanding. (August 3)
Executive Branch
White House
- The Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Spring 2024 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions was released by the White House. The Unified Agenda is a general guide to forthcoming regulations and the expected timing on when they will be released – with the strong caveat that these published timelines are often not precise. There isn’t much to report in the way of newly announced regulations, with the exception of a rule listed at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). See below for more information. (July 5)
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Commissioner Keith Sonderling’s term at the EEOC expired on July 1. The hold-over provision in statute allow Commissioner Sonderling to continue to serve until August 31 unless a successor is nominated before that date (and this is not expected to happen). Commissioner Sonderling is one of two Republicans serving on the five-member EEOC. (July 1)
- OIRA’s Spring 2024 Unified Agenda brought back a version of its previous pay data collection rule. This rule would propose to collect pay data from employers under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Pay Act as part of its EEO-1 form. The last iteration of this rule was developed in the Obama administration and rescinded under the Trump administration. The NPRM is expected in January 2025. (July 5)
Department of Labor
- OSHA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) titled, “Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings” – designed to establish a federal heat exposure standard for workers in indoor and outdoor settings. The proposal adopts a two-level heat standard – at 80 degrees Fahrenheit and again at 90 degrees Fahrenheit (or the humidity-adjusted equivalents). Once published in the Federal Register, the public will have 120 days to submit comments. (July 2)
- Two federal courts in Texas issued nationwide stays of the Employee Benefits Security Administration’s final Fiduciary Rule (first opinion; second opinion). The final rule was intended to define who is an investment advice fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and it was the fourth attempt to change the definition of fiduciary since 2010. (July 25 and 26)
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
- The NLRB withdrew its appeal of a March decision from a district court in Texas vacating the joint employer rule. This means the standard to determine whether a joint employment relationship exists reverts to requiring direct and immediate control over workers’ terms and conditions of employment. (July 19)
- NLRB issued a final rule titled, “Representation-Case Procedures: Election Bars; Proof of Majority Support in Construction Industry Collective-Bargaining Relationships” (aka Fair Choice-Employee Voice). This final rule formally rescinds the Trump administration “Election Protection” final rule from April 2020. The new final rule allows a NLRB Regional Director the discretion to delay an election due to unfair labor practice allegations, removes the requirement for a 45-day window in which employees could challenge an employer’s voluntary recognition of a union, and includes language seeking to create parity between construction industry unions and other private-sector unions. (August 1)
State and Local Spotlight
In the absence of significant labor and employment lawmaking at the federal level due to a divided Congress, states are increasingly considering or enacting policy changes in this space. Throughout each month, we provide state-specific and other updates on labor-related happenings on our Latest News page. ICYMI in July:
- Teamsters President Shakes up GOP Convention with Pro-Union Speech (July 17)
- Union Reactions to Biden’s Exit (July 22)
- State Senator “Proud” of Conflict-of-Interest Voting Record (August 1)
- Everything to Know about the New NLRB Rule (August 5)
- Harris Picks Pro-Union Governor Tim Walz for Vice President (August 7)
That’s it for the summer session of Congress! We’ll be back once Congress returns from August recess – with only three weeks of work before Congress breaks again through the presidential election. We’ll of course keep you apprised of any happenings in the federal labor and employment space as they arise.