Three Labor Nominees That Will Change the Workplace Forever

The Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF), an organization established in 2003 to combat anti-worker legislation and promote free and open labor markets, opposes three of President Obama’s labor nominees. Often overlooked, presidential appointees have the ability to dramatically change the employer-worker relationship through regulatory bodies and enforcement agencies. Obama’s nominees are:

Craig Becker: Nominee, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
Responsibilities: The NLRB interprets and administers federal labor laws covering over 90% of businesses and private sector employees.

– Former union lawyer and current Associate General Counsel for SEIU

– Becker has shown a blatant disregard for worker choice saying, “At first blush it might seem fair to give workers the choice to remain unrepresented. But, in granting this option, U.S. labor law grants employers a powerful incentive to campaign for a vote of no representation.”

 

Patricia Smith: Nominee, Solicitor General at the Department of Labor
Responsibilities: Solicitor General, the third ranking post in the Department of Labor, is responsible for overseeing litigation, assisting with policy development.

– Staunch supporter of Prevailing Wage Laws

– Created the New York Wage and Hour Watch, an organization used by unions to organize and a weapon for them to intimidate employers

David Michaels: Nominee, Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)
Responsibilities: Determine workplace safety standards and enforce laws with 2,000 member agency.

– Opponent of Second Amendment rights, saying, “gun violence” as an issue of “public health, invariably demands more and stronger regulation, not less.”

– Michaels has shown he is a powerful ally for trial lawyers through his firm belief in the Daubert ruling and his work with Project on Scientific Knowledge Public Policy, an organization heavily funded by George Soros.