Worker Centers May Get Closer Look Under Trump

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Publish Date:
February 16, 2017
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Source:
Bloomberg - BNA - Daily Labor Report
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Summary

Some of the alternative worker groups that led the charge against former labor secretary nominee Andrew Puzder may get some scrutiny of their own no matter who runs the Labor Department under President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration is expected to take a closer look at worker centers, an amorphous category of advocacy group that broadly includes Fight for $15 and other traditional labor union affiliates, along with independent grass-roots organizations such as Restaurant Opportunities Center United. The scrutiny is likely to start with the DOL considering whether to force the groups to provide certain financial disclosures. It could also include rethinking whether some of their protest activities run afoul of federal labor law.

“I think it comes back to whether their activities show a pattern or practice of dealing with the employer over time,” John Raudabaugh, who served as a Republican National Labor Relations Board member during the George H.W. Bush administration, told Bloomberg BNA. Even Wal-Mart-specific groups that want the retailer to change sick leave and other policies aren’t likely to fall under the labor organization umbrella, Raudabaugh and Chairman William B. Gould (D) said.

“The question is what is their role in an ongoing basis,” Gould told Bloomberg BNA. “The mere demand for a policy change is not sufficient to meet the labor organization standard.”

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