DOL faces deadline to defend ILAB cuts

Politico

19-05-2025

QUICK FIX
WHAT'S AT STAKE: The Trump administration has until Thursday to submit its response to a lawsuit brought forth by several organizations against the Labor Department's cuts to the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, an office within DOL tasked with improving labor conditions in U.S. supply chains overseas.
The Solidarity Center and other ILAB grantees filed their lawsuit last month challenging the funding cuts, while staffers in the unit were also grappling with layoffs that had drastically reduced its headcount.
Their complaint to a federal district court in D.C. calls on millions in funding to be restored after DOL said the grant terminations would save nearly $240 million. Cuts to ILAB are one of several recent DOGE-inflicted rollbacks at DOL as the group touted cuts to grants awarded by the Women's Bureau.
Shawna Bader-Blau, the Solidarity Center's executive director, is already sounding the alarm on the kind of work that's at risk without funding flowing to grant recipients.
'They've taken this entire grants program off the table that has lifted tens of millions of kids out of child labor and has helped hundreds of thousands of workers in trade sectors in countries with free trade agreements with the United States that are directly American worker-impacted sectors,' Bader-Blau said.
While it's only been several weeks since the DOL stopped money from flowing to grant recipients, Bader-Blau has already noticed that some groups' efforts aimed at supporting labor conditions have already come to a halt.
Efforts to help Mexican workers organize at a Pirelli factory have are no longer ongoing, as well as work to support agricultural workers in Latin America as part of the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, she said.
Some groups have already spoken out that the funding cuts could have humanitarian consequences.
'This decision undercuts the U.S. government's decades-long commitment to combating human trafficking,' dozens of groups wrote to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. 'More importantly, it strips essential support for those at risk of exploitation, including children, further entrenching cycles of forced labor in supply chains.'
DOL did not respond to Shift's request for comment.
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AROUND THE AGENCIES
REVERSING COURSE: The top lawyer at the National Labor Relations Board on Friday told staff to narrow the scope of relief it seeks for workers harmed by unfair labor practices, breaking from the Biden administration's more-expansive view toward make-whole remedies.
Acting General Counsel William Cowen in a memo to agency staff cautioned that 'we should be mindful of not allowing our remedial enthusiasm to distract us from achieving a prompt and fair resolution of disputed matters.'
Cowen's memo discouraged devising 'novel' remedies when seeking settlement agreements, while preserving NLRB regional directors' discretion to do so in certain instances.
It also took a dim view of the NLRB's 2022 Thryv Inc. decision, which established a framework for agency staff to pursue various remedies to address labor violations outside things like back pay, reinstatement and other traditional options.
Cowen, who previously served on the board during the George W. Bush administration, referenced the Republican-penned dissent in that case and called it 'the only standard reasonably capable of application' in settlement negotiations.
More agency news: 'Labor watchdog opens investigation into DOGE whistleblower claims after NPR reporting,' from NPR.
IN THE STATES
TRANSIT TROUBLES: Public transit systems across the U.S. are feeling the squeeze as Covid-era federal funding dries up and travel patterns have evolved.
The American Rescue Plan included roughly $30 billion to backstop transit systems, which provided a lifeline but also helped forestall some tough decisions for state and local lawmakers that are now coming due.
NJ Transit halted train service for days after its unionized engineers called a strike amid a contract standoff over wages before the union they'd return to work after reaching a deal with the transit agency on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Illinois AFL-CIO and other unions are leaning on Springfield Democrats to devise a plan for $1.5 billion in increased transit funding — or risk huge job losses and service cuts for the Chicago Transit Authority, regional bus systems and Metra commuter rail lines before the legislature adjourns at the end of the month.
'We must protect this essential feature of our regional and state economy by finding sustainable funding sources that do not disproportionately impact low-income Illinoisans and workers,' labor groups wrote in a letter to lawmakers last month.
State of play: Talks have been progressing though nothing is set, CBS News Chicago reported last week.
Related: 'New Jersey, State of Constant Motion, Learns to Live With Immobility,' from The New York Times.
Opinion: 'Manufacturing is thriving in the South. Here's why neither party can admit it,' from The Washington Post.
Even more: 'Jared Polis vetoes Colorado labor movement's priority bill. Union leaders say they'll be back,' from The Colorado Sun.
LEGAL BATTLES
WIN SOME: The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 ruling Friday lifted a lower-court order preventing the federal government from implementing Trump's plan to end collective bargaining by workers at more than a dozen federal agencies, our Josh Gerstein reports for Pro subscribers.
The appeals court's majority said there was insufficient evidence that the National Treasury Employees Union faced 'irreparable harm' that would justify the preliminary injunction.
Judges Karen Henderson, a George H.W. Bush appointee, and Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, said the national security exception the president invoked in federal labor relations law is an added reason for courts to tread lightly. Judge Michelle Childs, a Biden appointee, dissented.
— Meanwhile, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to allow it to immediately proceed with its plan to lay off tens of thousands of workers across federal agencies, our Hassan Ali Kanu reports for Pros.
LOSE SOME: A District of Columbia federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration's bid to sidestep a Biden-era policy requiring union-friendly labor agreements on big projects, Nick reports for Pros.
North America's Building Trades Unions sued the administration in April over memos issued by the Defense Department and General Services Administration that exempted many construction projects from complying with a 2022 executive order signed by then-President Joe Biden that mandated the use of project labor agreements on federally funded projects budgeted at more than $35 million.
Judge Rudolph Contreras issued a preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from taking further action to implement the DOD and GSA memos, stating that they 'functionally nullify that mandate in broad swaths of the agencies' procurement activity.'
In the Workplace
TAKING THE CREDIT: Trump's tariffs are creating uncertainty for economic development officials looking to lure foreign investment to states and cities across the U.S.
The White House rolled out several high-profile announcements since Trump took office aimed at showing how the president is driving investment, despite how many of the deals unveiled had been in the works before he took office.
'Even as the administration has touted decisions from auto companies like Honda and Stellantis to move production to the U.S., auto manufacturing jobs are down 20.8 percent from 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,' our Daniel Desrochers reports.
More workplace news: 'Verizon Rolls Back DEI Policies to Secure $10 Billion Deal,' from The Wall Street Journal.
Unions
BANDING TOGETHER: Employees at the Kennedy Center are planning to form a union after roughly 60 percent of eligible workers signed cards that were submitted to the National Labor Relations Board last week, The Washington Post reported.
Staffers are looking to seek representation from the United Auto Workers and opted to pursue an election with the NLRB due to fear of retaliation.
A union organizer told The Washington Post that since President Donald Trump became Kennedy Center chair, various staff meetings have been paused and employees have been kept out of the loop on new personnel and contractors arriving at offices.
More union news: 'Ending Migrant Parole Would Spell Workplace Chaos, AFL-CIO Warns,' from Bloomberg Law.
Even more: 'Musicians Union Slams Trump's Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen Tantrum,' from Rolling Stone.
What We're Reading
— 'What if Your Salary Is Too High for Today's Job Market?' from The Wall Street Journal.
—'He Became the Face of Georgia's Medicaid Work Requirement. Now He's Fed Up With It,' from ProPublica and The Current.
— 'Trump's actions are pushing thousands of experts to flee government,' from The Washington Post.
— 'I Thought I'd Love Being a Congressman. I Prefer Owning a Bookshop,' by former Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) in The Wall Street Journal.
THAT'S YOUR SHIFT!