Trump Going to War Against American Labor

I assume that “Trump/Ryan/McConnell aren’t going to do too much damage except the courts” takes are going to be thin on the ground (although they do exist, even with what would be the worst domestic legislation passed by Congress since at least Taft-Hartley barrelling towards passage.) But in case you were wondering, Trump will reshape the NLRB and the results will be very bad:

The moves arrive after Mr. Trump’s proposed deep cuts to the Labor Department and job-training programs across the federal government. And just last week, the administration disclosed that it opposes the labor relation board’s position that employers cannot require employees to waive their rights to bring class-action cases — an issue the Supreme Court will hear arguments about this year.

Now, by filling two vacant seats and swinging the board from a Democratic majority to a Republican majority, Mr. Trump could reverse the following actions:

• A ruling that increased the likelihood that companies could be held responsible for labor violations committed by contractors and franchisees.

• A ruling that made it easier for relatively small groups of workers within a company to form a union.

• A ruling that granted graduate students at private universities a federally protected right to unionize.

• Rules allowing union elections to proceed on a faster timetable. Many business groups refer to the current regulations as “ambush” rules, complaining that employers no longer have sufficient time to make the case to workers against unionizing.

On Monday, the White House announced the nomination of Marvin Kaplan, a lawyer serving on a federal health and safety commission, to one of two vacant seats on the board, which currently has a 2-to-1 Democratic majority. A second nomination is expected shortly.

And, of course, while this is going on the Trumped Supreme Court will be dealing a massive blow to public sector unions.

Erik has been beating this drum forever, of course, but if you’re looking to explain Democratic losses in the rust belt the very successful war on organized labor by state and federal Republicans is more important than Hillary Clinton’s campaign tactics by a factor of about six billion.