Sec. Walsh's wanderlust

Oct 31, 2022

QUICK FIX

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Labor Secretary Marty Walsh has kept a busy travel schedule of late, including a bunch of appearances with members of Congress.

Walsh has bounced around to six states in October , spanning from Iowa to Connecticut to Wisconsin, alongside senators and House representatives. It is somewhat of an uptick from the same period last year — when he had four October appearances — but Walsh is pretty regularly out and about.

Last year Walsh had 31 events with members of Congress, starting in May 2021 — a little over a month after his Senate confirmation — according to a list provided by DOL. That included 10 trips in August alone, the most of any month to date.

In 2022 he's racked up at least two dozen excursions, including a few multi-day swings like his recently concluded visit to Wisconsin, with two months left on the calendar. And that total does not include true election-season appearances like the one Walsh did for Seth Magaziner earlier this month , though some (but not all) of the official events were with members of Congress, like Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa), who are in tough reelection battles.

Government officials like Walsh have to be mindful of not using their positions for political work due to the strictures of the Hatch Act — which recently tripped up White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain.

But even by-the-books events are typically a boon for the hosting member(s) of Congress given the jolt of favorable local media attention they tend to garner and the opportunity for them to bend the ear of those at the top of the administration.

Walsh is one of several Biden cabinet members with an affinity for being on the road evangelizing for the administration, and it is a pretty natural fit for someone with a blue-collar image and a long career in elected office himself.

By comparison former Secretary Eugene Scalia had official events in Pennsylvania and Minnesota with members of Congress in October 2020 — though the pandemic was a much more limiting factor for traveling at that time. And at this time in 2018 then-Secretary Alexander Acosta rarely even left D.C., according to his October calendar , and similarly was not with members of Congress as much as Walsh.

DOL did not respond to a request for comment on the secretary's travels.

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On the Hill

VANCE'S FUZZY MATH: Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance frequently touts a record of job creation in his pre-political career while on the campaign trail. But he appears to have overstated things, our Adam Wren reports .

"Since it was founded in 2019, Narya, Vance's venture capital firm, was part of a group of at least 46 investors who together invested in three companies that created a total of about 750 jobs in the state of Ohio between 2019 and 2022."

"It would be impossible to parse out which investor is responsible for each job created," Jeff Sohl, director of the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire, told POLITICO in an email. "If one assumes that each investor can take an equal share of the job creation (which is a reasonable assumption) then at best Narya can claim 750 jobs divided by 46 investors which equals 16 jobs."

More Hill news: " Senate Republicans want the SEC to explain why staff are quitting ," from Reuters.

Around the Agencies

NLRB GOES AFTER SHULTZ: The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against Starbucks leader Howard Schultz for comments he made this spring, Bloomberg reports .

"In that meeting, an employee asked Schultz about retaliation against union supporters. He told the worker, 'I'm sensing a lot of anger from you about Starbucks,' and 'If you hate Starbucks so much, why don't you work somewhere else?'"

It is just the latest in a string of NLRB complaints filed against Starbucks over the course of the unionization effort that has taken hold at many of the company's stores and comes just days after the agency issued a complaint against the CEO of Amazon for similar alleged violations against employee's union rights.

Related: " Starbucks Union Expansion Slows a Year Into Labor Drive ," from The Wall Street Journal.

AT THE WOMEN'S BUREAU: The part of the Labor Department devoted to advancing women's interests in the workforce is set to take on greater prominence as the Biden administration seeks to equitably allocate investments in workforce development, Bloomberg Law reports .

" Wendy Chun-Hoon , chief of the Women's Bureau, said she's focused on three main targets: occupational segregation, gaps in care infrastructure, and gender-based discrimination and harassment.

"Chun-Hoon told Bloomberg Law the agency plans to use its data analysis abilities and grant-making power to help deliver the Biden administration's goals of an equitable recovery, and to ensure there's enough workers to complete future infrastructure and manufacturing projects."

In the Workplace

WAGES JUMP IN Q3: Worker wages are going up, a trend that helps people offset the effects of inflation but also has an upward pressure of its own.

"The employment-cost index, a measure of worker wages and benefits , rose 5% in the third quarter from the same period a year earlier, the Labor Department said Friday, as employers competed for workers in a tight labor market," The Wall Street Journal reports .

"The gain marked a slight cooling from the second quarter when the index rose at its fastest annual pace in records dating to 2001."

Unions

JUDGE OPENS DOOR TO REPORTERS' MESSAGES: A federal judge is requiring Starbucks Workers United to turn over its communications with journalists as part of a broader legal battle between Starbucks and the NLRB.

"The giant coffee chain asked to subpoena the records as part of discovery in a bitter legal fight with the employees and the National Labor Relations Board, whose regional director in May issued a complaint against Starbucks that included more than 200 violations of the National Labor Relations Act," The Washington Post reports .

TRADER JOE'S VOTES AGAINST UNIONIZATION: Workers attempting to organize at a Brooklyn Trader Joe's lost their election Thursday, The New York Times reports .

"The workers voted 94 to 66 against joining Trader Joe's United, an independent union that represents employees at stores in Western Massachusetts and Minneapolis."

More union news: " Workers at NYC Starbucks and Amazon Go store file petition to unionize ," from CNBC.

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IN THE STATES

WHATCHA PAYING?: Starting in November New York City will require most companies to post salary ranges in job listings, ABC News reports .

"Employers advertising jobs in the city who have at least one employee currently located there must include a 'good faith salary range,' according to the New York City Commission on Human Rights, which is enforcing the law. Employers must include a minimum and maximum salary."

The requirement applies to any business with at least four employees and was initially slated to take effect in May but was pushed back after complaints from companies.

What We're Reading

—" 'Working in fear': Some private contractors are accused of abusive labor practices on U.S. military bases ," from NBC News.

— " 'No Jobs Available': The Feast or Famine Careers of America's Port Drivers ," from The New York Times.

— " Hershey's Turnaround Story Isn't Sweet. It's Salty ," from The Wall Street Journal.

— " Chrysler parent Stellantis offering U.S. salaried buyouts ," from Reuters.

— " Top Twitter executives set to get $120 million in golden parachutes ," from The Washington Post.

THAT'S ALL FOR WEEKLY SHIFT!

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