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A recently unveiled project, Project 2025, spearheaded by loyalists of former President Donald Trump, has exposed a comprehensive plan to significantly roll back worker protections if Trump secures a second term in the White House in 2024.
With a staggering $22million budget, the initiative, led by the Heritage Foundation, aims to pave the way for a Trump administration to wield increased executive authority, allowing them to dismantle what they refer to as the "Deep State."
The agenda, spanning over 900 pages, encompasses all cabinet departments and various Government bodies, providing a detailed blueprint for a new crop of Trump-appointed bureaucrats to execute the policies outlined in the plan.
Key elements of the labor chapter have raised concerns among worker advocates, revealing a disturbing inclination towards undermining labor rights and protections.
Jonathan Berry, who served as the head of the Labor Department's regulatory office under Trump, authored the labor section of Project 2025.
His track record includes helping to deny guaranteed overtime pay to millions of workers and making it harder for workers to hold companies accountable for actions taken by individual stores, effectively shielding corporations behind the protections afforded to franchises.
The labor chapter commences with a focus on blocking critical race theory, limiting anti-discrimination lawsuits, and promoting pro-life policies in the workplace, diverting from traditional labor policy considerations. One proposal calls for the reinstatement of a Trump-era rule that eases the classification of employees as independent contractors, stripping them of the protections enjoyed by traditional employees.
Notably, the plan suggests weakening union power, proposing legislation like the Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act, introduced by Senator Marco Rubio.
The bill would weaken a section of the National Labor Relations Act that bars company-controlled unions while granting workers limited involvement through "employee involvement organizations," with recommendations that companies could ignore.
The plan also calls for the banning of card check, a process enabling unions to be established if a majority of employees sign cards in favor of unionization and the employer voluntarily recognizes the union.
It recommends amending the National Labor Relations Act to allow collective bargaining agreements to set aside federal laws and regulations if both parties agree to do so as part of a compromise.
Although not an official Trump campaign document, the involvement of former senior aides, including Russell Vought and John McEntee, suggests that Project 2025 reflects a potential trajectory for labor policies under a second Trump administration.
Labor advocates and worker organizations are expressing concern over the possible ramifications of such an agenda, warning of potential hardships for the American workforce.
