OPINION: Project 2025 spells bad news for Labor in a second Trump term

By GREG A. CAMPBELL

Among supporters of former president Trump, one of their biggest concerns is that, due to delays and a lack of a clear plan, he was not able to immediately impose his right-wing agenda during his first term.

In an effort to address this issue, the conservative Heritage Foundation has drafted a 922-page blueprint for a second Trump term. This document, called Project 2025 and available for viewing at www.project2025.org, was prepared by a team which included numerous former Trump Administration officials.

One target of Project 2025 is Organized Labor and worker rights. The plan would dramatically curtail established protections and weaken unions.

One of the key components of Project 2025 is the conversion of as many as 50,000 federal civil service jobs into “political” positions in which holders of these jobs can be fired “at will,” and thus must profess loyalty to Trump in order to remain employed.

PRIVATE SECTOR WORKERS AND UNIONS
The dangers from Project 2025 are not limited to public sector employees. Proposals directed at private sector workers and unions include:

• Elimination of overtime pay: Presently, under the Fair Labor Standards Act most employees are entitled to be paid time-and-one-half for all hours in excess of 40 per week. Project 2025 calls for averaging hours worked over up to four weeks, so that if employees work 60 hours in one week, but have their hours cut in the following weeks, they will receive no overtime pay. (p. 592)

• Removing workers from Labor law coverage: Project 2025 calls for reclassifying numerous individuals as “independent contractors” rather than “employees,” thereby denying them the protection of Labor laws. (p. 591)

• Weakening anti-discrimination provisions: Project 2025 calls for restricting the ability of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to collect data and issue policies, and eliminating federal regulations regarding LGBTQIA+ discrimination. (p. 523-524)

• Exempting employers from compliance with the NLRA: Project 2025 calls for raising the financial threshold for an employer to be covered by the National Labor Relations Act, so that fewer employees would be covered. (p. 594)

• Allowing corporations to evade liability: Project 2025 proposes requiring the National Labor Relations Board and Department of Labor to adopt a more restrictive definition of “joint employer,” which in the past has been used to hold parent corporations liable for the labor law violations of their franchisees. (p. 501)

• Eliminating “card check”: Presently, if a union which is organizing a workplace obtains signed union authorization cards from a majority of employees in the workplace, the employer may agree to recognize the union based on the cards, rather than requiring a Labor Board election. Project 2025 would make this practice unlawful. (p. 602)

• Making it easier to decertify a union: Currently, employees seeking to get rid of their union can file a “decertification petition” with the Labor Board during a specific window period shortly before expiration of the collective bargaining agreement. This rule creates stability and allows a union to spend its time representing employees rather than constantly fending off challenges by dissident employees. Project 2025 would eliminate this rule, and allow decertification petitions to be filed any time. (p. 603)

• Narrowing the definition of “concerted activity:” The NLRA gives workers the right to engage in “concerted activity” to address their wages, hours and work conditions. Project 2025 wants to narrow the definition of “concerted activity” so that fewer actions would be protected. Without this protection, workers could be fired for engaging in such activities. (p. 601)

• Allowing “Company Unions:” Section 8(a)(2) of the NLRA prohibits employer assistance to Labor organizations (so-called “company unions”). Project 2025 proposes changing Section 8(a)(2) to allow for employer-assisted “employee involvement associations.” (p. 599)

• Punishing Unions for Their Positions on Social Issues: The “duty of fair representation” requires a union to avoid treating members with discrimination or hostility in the grievance procedure or contract negotiations. Project 2025 calls for members to be permitted to pursue claims against unions over stances taken by unions on social issues, which the authors refer to as “left-wing culture war issues.” The goal is clear: to silence or bankrupt unions.
(p. 600)

• Weakening union apprenticeship programs: Project 2025 calls for greater recognition of apprenticeship programs operated by employer associations, thus weakening the influence of traditional joint Labor-management programs. (p. 595)

Project 2025 is a clear attempt to take away established employee rights and diminish the ability of unions to organize and represent workers. Union members and supporters should keep this in mind when entering the voting booth on Nov. 5.

(Greg A. Campbell is a partner with Labor and employee benefits firm Hammond and Shinners, P.C.)