| | | | |  | | By Eleanor Mueller and Nick Niedzwiadek | With help from Shayna Greene
| | | SCHUMER'S BLIND SPOT? It's true that this week is the first time in a long time that lawmakers have returned to the Hill post-recess without an exceptionally long to-do list yawning before them. Yet there may be one exception: labor. Not only are several of President Joe Biden's nominees to the Labor Department still languishing in the Senate, as Nick breaks down below — but there are a handful of work-related measures also stagnating beneath the shadow of spending bills, FDA reauthorizations, same-sex marriage, judicial nominees and more. Chief among them: the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which the House passed last May and has been backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the ACLU alike. Unlike the PRO Act, the legislation, which would require employers to provide pregnant workers with reasonable accommodations, is bipartisan — and by no small margin. Indeed, it has seven GOP Senate cosponsors, and 99 Republican members voted for its passage in the House. But advocates say they've received no indication from Senate leadership that it will be considered this month — or even during the so-called lame duck session post-elections. "This is not a controversial bill," A Better Balance's Dina Bakst told Eleanor. "Passing PWFA should be a no-brainer." "Instead, we're in the position of having to beg Senate leadership to bring this urgently needed and wildly popular legislation to the floor for a vote." Asked about a potential timeline for the bill, the office of Senate sponsor Bob Casey (D-Pa.) declined to provide one — but underscored the importance of enacting the legislation. "Senator Casey has been working for a decade to pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to ensure reasonable accommodations for pregnancy in the workforce and ensure that anyone who wants to work can do so safely," spokesperson Natalie Adams said. "Worker health and safety should be nonnegotiable." The bill's backers have ratched up a pressure campaign to motivate Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and others to bring the bill to a vote. Last week, parents hand-delivered a petition with nearly 30,000 signatures to Schumer's Park Slope apartment. And A Better Balance went in with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ACLU and others on an ad in Newsday's Sunday edition this weekend asserting that "time is running out" and urging Schumer himself to bring it "to the Senate floor for a vote." "The Senate's inaction is just insulting," Bakst said. "It makes no sense." Both the pandemic and the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade have added urgency to the bill's enactment, Bakst said. More recently, the 7th Circuit Court last month shut down an EEOC attempt to force Walmart to include pregnant workers in a policy that allows its employees to temporarily assume alternate duties. "The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act not only helps pregnant workers remain healthy and in the labor force, but also removes legal ambiguities that have led to litigation," Glenn Spencer, U.S. Chamber of Commerce's senior vice president of employment policy, told Eleanor. "With more than 13 Republican Senators on board to support the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, the bill has the numbers needed to clear the Senate's 60-vote hurdle. Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer just needs to bring it to the floor for a vote." It's possible that Democrats are wary to hand Republicans a win on women ahead of the midterm elections by passing a measure like PWFA with GOP votes. Yet advocates insist that if lawmakers wrap up this session without clearing the bill, it may never see enactment. "We know the difference this bill will make … and this is our shot," Bakst said. "We could miss the opportunity to pass it if we don't do it now." Schumer's office did not respond to a request for comment. GOOD MORNING. It's Wednesday, Sept. 7. Welcome back to Weekly Shift, your go-to tipsheet on employment and immigration news. Send feedback, tips, exclusives to emueller@politico.com and nniedzwiadek@politico.com . Follow us on Twitter at @eleanor_mueller and @nickniedz.
| | | | HAPPENING 9/29 - POLITICO'S AI & TECH SUMMIT : Technology is constantly evolving and so are the politics and policies shaping and regulating it. Join POLITICO for the 2022 AI & Tech summit to get an insider look at the pressing policy and political issues shaping tech, and how Washington interacts with the tech sector. The summit will bring together lawmakers, federal regulators, tech executives, tech policy experts and consumer advocates to dig into the intersection of tech, politics, regulation and innovation, and identify opportunities, risks and challenges ahead. REGISTER FOR THE SUMMIT HERE. | | | | | Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories.
| | | EEOC BY THE NUMBERS: President Joe Biden's inability to get a pivotal nominee to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission through the Senate has effectively muzzled its ability to act on contentious issues, Nick reports this morning for Pros. The situation, which leaves Republicans with some control of the commission 19 months after President Donald Trump left office, has ground the independent agency to a near standstill, as activity at the top has dropped off this year. The five-member panel took a total of 56 votes between January and July, compared to 81 votes in the later half of 2021.
| The Republican bloc has voted down agency requests, such as to pursue discrimination lawsuits or file amicus briefs, at least 17 times since Biden's inauguration, a sharp increase from the number of disapproval votes in the final year of the prior administration.
| The slowdown comes as attorney Kalpana Kotagal's nomination has idled for months after the Senate HELP committee deadlocked on her confirmation back in late May. The fate of Kotagal's nomination is particularly consequential because it would swing the commission's political balance back to Democrats. The EEOC currently has a 3-2 Republican majority, giving them a de facto veto over Chair Charlotte Burrows' agenda.
| | | CROWDED CALENDAR: The Senate HELP committee is set to hold confirmation hearings Tuesday for Jessica Looman and Karla Gilbride, Biden's nominees to helm DOL's Wage and Hour Division and EEOC's general counsel's office, respectively. Looman was nominated in July after the president's first pick, David Weil, fell through. She had been acting administrator prior to being nominated and continues to be its top official through some organizational sleight-of-hand. Gilbride is an attorney at the nonprofit Public Justice, who was nominated back in June. If confirmed, Gilbride would fill a vacancy that has lingered since March 2021 after Biden fired Sharon Sharon Gustafson. The pair are just two in a several other labor nominees idling before the Senate. Joining them are:
- Kalpana Kotagal, nominated to serve on the EEOC.
- Lisa Gomez, nominated to head DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration.
- Jose Javier Rodriguez, nominated to run the Employment and Training Administration.
- Ernest DuBester, confirmation to another term at the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
- Kurt Rumsfeld, nominated to serve as FLRA's general counsel.
Republicans have thrown up roadblocks to these nominees, and Democrats have prioritized precious floor time to judicial confirmations and big-ticket legislative items. But the to-do list is starting to mount.
| | | NLRB MOVES ON JOINT EMPLOYER: The National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday released a highly anticipated proposal to broaden the legal standard for determining whether a worker is employed jointly by multiple employers, Nick reports for Pros. The proposed rule would establish two or more employers as joint employers if they "share or codetermine" key employment conditions — such as pay, scheduling, workplace safety and employee discipline policies. That includes indirect and reserved authority over those terms and conditions. The NLRB proposal would unwind the — at times rocky — Trump-era effort to enshrine a stricter "substantial, direct and immediate" control over employment conditions in order to qualify as a joint employer. MARTY, M.I.A.?: The New Republic's Timothy Noah is out with a lengthy read on Labor Secretary Marty Walsh's tenure to date, which he argues is quite lackluster. Among the critiques: The slow pace of substantive regulations, an alleged lack of engagement on Capitol Hill and a perceived lack of vision for the agency he leads. "I wish I could tell you that Walsh is one of those guys who likes to work quietly, out of the spotlight, because he can get more done that way, but the blunt truth is that Walsh hasn't gotten all that much done at the Labor Department," he writes. Disclosure: Noah is a former POLITICO labor editor. Related: " Biden Loves Labor Unions But Blue-Collar Workers Don't Love Him Back," from Bloomberg. DUNKING ON DUNKIN': A trio of Dunkin Donuts locations in Pennsylvania have been fined for violating teen labor laws, the Labor Department announced Tuesday. DOL found that a franchisee illegally allowed dozens of 14- and 15-year-olds to work beyond the daily and weekly hour limits when school was in session, as well as exceeding child labor restrictions during non-school periods. The company was fined more than $24,000 and agreed to undergo additional oversight.
| | | A LOOK AT TODAY'S LABOR MARKET: Littler, the world's largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has released its fourth annual Labor Day report, which shows the variation of Covid recovery for employers and employees. Jobs: Among a number of findings, the report shows that the hospitality and service industries are still struggling in terms of job levels. "The labor force participation rate is 1.3 percentage points below the pre-pandemic level. There are approximately 4.8 million more job openings than unemployed workers." Productivity: Hours and costs are rising but output is falling, leading to a 10.8 percent jump in unit labor costs. Legislative landscape: "The Democrats' slim majority in Congress over the past two years has prevented either side of the aisle from advancing employment-related legislation." As a result, federal agencies and state legislatures have become "the main drivers of employment policy."
| | | THE LATEST WHITE COLLAR UNION: Unionization has gotten a foothold in the architect world, The New York Times reports. "Employees of a 22-member firm, Bernheimer Architecture, announced Thursday that they had formed what appears to be the country's only formal union at a private-sector architecture firm. The architects will join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers — and the firm, which specializes in affordable-housing and other residential projects, has recognized the union voluntarily." More union news: " Union Chief Willie Adams Steers a Tough Course Through Port Labor Negotiations," from The Wall Street Journal. Even more union news: " 4,000 Google cafeteria workers quietly unionized during the pandemic," from The Washington Post.
| | | CALI FAST FOOD BILL SIGNED: Gov. Gavin Newsom cemented a major victory for organized labor by signing fiercely contested legislation that will create a fast food industry oversight body in the state, POLITICO California's Jeremy White reports. The bill, which Newsom signed on Labor Day, creates a franchise restaurant industry council that can set wage, hour, and workplace standards — and empowers the state Legislature to reject proposed rules. It was a priority for organized labor and was championed by a coalition that had rallied for a $15 minimum wage. Business foes, who argued the bill would undermine franchisors and hike costs for consumers, have launched an advertising campaign to rally opposition to the measure. More state news: " The building trades first organized in Philadelphia. Black people never got a fair shot at their jobs," from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
| | | WORK PERMITS: A pair of senators are pressing federal officials on what steps they're taking to address lengthy work permit backlogs experienced by Ukrainian refugees and others, Roll Call reports. "Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, wrote U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services about reports that thousands of Ukrainians who arrived in the U.S. in the spring following Russia's invasion are still waiting to receive their work authorization documents. Many of those Ukrainians are living in America under temporary humanitarian protections." More immigration news: " Biden Administration Has Admitted One Million Migrants to Await Hearings," from The New York Times.
| | | | A WOMEN RULE CONVERSATION ON LEADING FROM THE GROUND UP: Join POLITICO's Women Rule on Sept. 15 for conversations focused on creating and leading sustainable, healthy and inclusive communities. The program will feature a Member Exchange panel followed by a keynote discussion exploring the most pressing issues facing women in their communities and women in leadership roles who are best positioned to solve these problems. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | — " Gig Workers Tire of Waiting for Action From Biden's White House," from The New York Times. — " Conservatives Are Mastering the Art of the Proxy Ballot to Fight ESG," from Bloomberg Businessweek. — " One of the biggest strikes in US history is brewing at UPS," from CNN. — " The MLBPA's Efforts to Unionize the Minors Didn't Happen Overnight," from Sports Illustrated. — " Appeals Court to Decide if Federal Judges Can Order OSHA to Act," from Bloomberg Law. — " Record hot labor market has Minnesota scrambling for workers," from The Washington Post. — " Summer is over. And the battle to get workers back to the office is heating up," from CNN. — " Amazon and Starbucks Workers' Rally Outside Howard Schultz's House Interrupted by Amazon Delivery," from Vice. THAT'S ALL FOR MORNING SHIFT! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
Comments
Post a Comment