WASHINGTON—The Teamsters, the biggest boosters of former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., as GOP President Donald Trump’s Labor Secretary, cheered as the Senate voted her into the job by a bipartisan 67-32 margin on March 10.
The AFL-CIO and the Teachers/AFT, were more skeptical. They questioned whether Chavez-DeRemer would really control labor policy under the worker-hostile Republican Donald Trump regime—or whether it would be in the hands of Trump, the radical rightists in his White House and Trump’s puppeteer, the labor law-breaking multibillionaire Elon Musk.
“The AFL-CIO is encouraged by Chavez-DeRemer’s confirmation as Labor Secretary, given her history of supporting the freedom of workers to organize, join unions and other fundamental values of the” via the Protect The Right To Organize (PRO) Act, said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said. Left unsaid was that Chavez-DeRemer endorsed the PRO Act last August, only after it was dead in the water. A Senate GOP filibuster, backed by corporate cash and campaign contributions, killed it.
Shuler noted that in Chavez-DeRemer’s confirmation hearing, the former lawmaker backtracked on supporting some PRO Act provisions. Chavez-DeRemer herself had said she endorsed it only to gain “a seat at” the congressional bargaining table if it ever passed.
“Taking over the DOL in this administration is no easy task.” Shuler said. “Whether she is successful or not will depend on whether she uses her influence to be an effective voice for workers in a sea of Project 2025 appointees attempting to dismantle critical worker protections and priorities,” Shuler added.
Teachers/AFT President Randi Weingarten took the same tack.
“We will work with anyone who wants to embrace an opportunity agenda that helps workers and families get ahead,” she said.. “That is in the DNA of the labor movement and of public education. Secretary Chavez-DeRemer has a big job. She must help her party decide if the Department will fulfill its mission of promoting the interests of working people—including respecting collective bargaining and organizing—or whether it becomes captive to the interests of the oligarch class.
Expected to oppose worker rights
Reasonable expectations are, of course, the DOL, under Trump, will move strongly in the direction of opposing worker empowerment.
“As secretary, we hope she honors the legacy of Frances Perkins, rather than the diktats of Elon Musk,” Weingarten said. Perkins was FDR’s Labor Secretary, the first woman ever in a presidential cabinet—and a key advocate of worker rights who helped write the original, and pro-worker, National Labor Relations Act.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien,taking a different tack, however, crowed about the appointment. O’Brien addressed the Republican convention last year, after he solicited an invitation from Trump. The convicted felon who stiffed the unionized construction workers who built his Atlantic City, N.J., casino, put O’Brien on in prime time.
The Teamsters stayed neutral in last year’s presidential race. Almost all other unions endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
Trump, the TV performer, knew the visual that a middle-aged white working-class male with a Boston accent would appeal to that demographic, regardless of what O’Brien actually said. O’Brien used the speech to lambaste some in the GOP for hating union workers. And Chavez DeRemer’s father is a Teamster.
“Lori Chavez-DeRemer will do an excellent job leading the U.S. Department of Labor. We are committed to fighting alongside her to protect the working class and strengthen our nation by putting workers first,” O’Brien said. She has the “ability to bridge divides and serve all Americans effectively.”
O’Brien ducked the issue of how much clout Chavez-DeRemer would have in a right-wing regime led by a hostile president who, the day of the vote, trashed a union contract, with the Government Employees (AFGE), covering 45,000 Transportation Security Officers, aka the airport screeners.
Instead, O’Brien took a shot at the Democratic foes of Chavez-DeRemer. “Hardworking Americans should not forget who voted against them by trying to tank this nomination. Democratic holdouts participated in Chuck Schumer’s political theater instead of working together to get something done for working people. This system of political selfishness must be dismantled if workers are going to get ahead,” O’Brien demagogically stated.
Amalgamated Transit Union President John Costa and North America’s Building Trades President Sean McGarvey also welcomed Chavez-DeRemer. “We hope she has that same commitment to ensuring workers have the ability to stand together” for “fair wages, safe working conditions, and a voice in their workplace. We trust she will defend workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively,” said Costa.
Those union leaders too ignored the Trump administration’s ending this week of collective bargaining rights for tens of thousands of TSA workers.
The 29 Democrats who opposed Chavez-DeRemer cited her statement that she would “operate at the pleasure of” Trump’s wishes. That recalls a statement by a prior GOP Labor Secretary, Elaine Chao under George W. Bush. Asked about a key worker issue at a press conference, Chao replied “That’s above my pay grade.”
Chao’s spouse, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the longtime but now former GOP leader, opposed Chavez-DeRemer from the right. McConnell said she listened to “big labor bosses,” a common GOP insult. Two other Republicans opposed her: Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the Senate’s lead sponsor of a national right-to-work-for-less law, and Ted Budd, R-N.C.
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