Protect American workers: How Trump's team can fulfill his promise
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President  promised on Inauguration Day to "protect American workers," and a month later, he’s off to a solid start. But there’s plenty left to do.

He started by ending the diversity, equity and inclusion programs that have been undermining workplace cooperation and fairness. Second, he , so millions of illegal immigrants are no longer crossing into America, swelling the low-wage labor force.

Finally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the share of union members in the U.S. workforce dipped below 10% (below 6% in the private sector), a new low.



Former President Trump speaks at a rally in Uniondale, New York on Sept. 18, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)

These changes could make it easier for serious labor policy reforms that center not on businesses or , but on individual American workers. The right steps would add flexibility to the workforce, spur job creation and encourage economic growth. The extra revenue generated would facilitate tax cuts.



Regulatory reform is needed at three federal agencies that oversee labor laws and regulations: the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

At the Labor Department, the administration should remove the economically inept "environmental, social and governance" investment criteria and instead protect workers’ retirement savings. Investment managers should be prohibited from advancing political agendas that reduce pension returns.

The administration should guarantee workers freedom of information and transparency, so union members know how their leaders are spending dues.

The administration could expand apprenticeship programs that unions, community colleges and employers may offer young people. America has shortages of plumbers, welders and electricians – high-paying professions for which traditional college credentials are not needed.



 have raised barriers to workers’ ability to work as independent contractors. The administration could protect workers who want to be independent contractors so they may monetize unused pockets of time and work for themselves regardless of education, income or industry.

The Labor Department should bring back the very successful Payroll Audit Independent Determination program, started by President Trump and ended by President Joe Biden, to get more workers the wages they are owed, bring employers into compliance and reduce litigation.

Reforms at the NLRB, a five-member commission charged with guaranteeing workers’ rights to unionize, are vital to restore its credibility – if it is even to survive – to provide certainty to workers and employers.

The NLRB should restore employers’ right to free speech by reversing the current ban on meetings with workers before union elections. It should overturn rulings limiting employers’ ability to communicate with workers during a union organizing drive.



The NLRB should remove the joint-employer rule, where  are counted as employees of the parent company. More appropriate is the long-standing rule, where employers are those who control workers’ "essential terms of employment." Workers at independently owned McDonald’s outlets should be employees of their restaurants’ owners, not of far-off corporate McDonalds executives.

The NLRB should cease editing employer-handbook provisions or interfering with lawful severance agreements, as was done in the Biden administration.

The EEOC, a five-member commission that enforces federal laws against employment discrimination, should protect workers from bias and harassment, including antisemitism, by accepting complaints and rapidly adjudicating them.



The EEOC should allow firms to recruit on college campuses, as has been the case since the first universities in the 18th century.

The Biden EEOC contended that campus recruiting programs and others targeting recent college graduates are illegal. But courts have never declared them unlawful.

In the absence of discrimination allegations, the federal government should not be requiring EEO-1 reports – data from employers by race, sex and compensation. While discrimination charges must be investigated, these forms give rise to fishing expeditions to penalize well-intending employers and scare others into DEI activism.

The EEOC should allow firms to recruit on college campuses, as has been the case since the first universities in the 18th century.



Finally, the EEOC should end the use of . Under these claims, employers are penalized if they do not hire a certain share of women and minorities, even though it’s illegal to hire based on sex or race.

These recommendations are first steps for the initial year of the Trump administration. Over the coming four years, the DOL, NLRB and EEOC have enormous potential to enhance prosperity for individual workers and lift the regulatory burden on employers and entrepreneurs to create jobs and upward mobility.



_Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a scholar at The Heritage Foundation, served as chief of staff at the White House Council of Economic Advisors (2001-2002) and chief economist at U.S. Department of Labor (2003-2005)._
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