WASHINGTON (AP) — Working-class voters helped Republicans make steady electoral gains this year and expanded a coalition that increasingly includes rank-and-file union members. , who has enlisted labor support, to become his labor secretary.
Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her bid for a second term this month despite strong support from union members, a key part of the Democratic base but who in the Trump era have leaned toward a Republican Party traditionally allied had business interests.
“Lori’s strong support from both the business and labor communities will ensure that the Department of Labor can unite Americans of all backgrounds behind our Agenda for Unprecedented National Success: Making America richer, wealthier, stronger and more prosperous than ever before!” Trump said this on Friday evening in a statement announcing his choice.
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For decades, unions have sided with Democrats and have been largely greeted with hostility by Republicans. But Trump’s populist appeal saw his blue-collar base see a fair share of union members vote for Republicans this year, even as major unions, including the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers, backed Democrat Kamala Harris in the election. Race in the White House.
Trump spoke to labor leaders and members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters this year, and when he emerged from that meeting he boasted that a significant portion of union voters supported him. Of a possible Teamsters endorsement, he said, “Stranger things have happened.”
The Teamsters ultimately declined to endorse Trump, the former president, or Harris, the vice president, even though leader Sean O’Brien had a featured speaker at the Republican National Convention.
Kara Deniz, a Teamsters spokesperson, told the Associated Press that O’Brien had met with more than a dozen Republicans in the House of Representatives over the past week to lobby on Chavez-DeRemer’s behalf. “Chavez-DeRemer would be an excellent choice for labor minister and he has his support,” Deniz said.
The Labor Department’s work affects, among other things, workers’ wages, health and safety, the ability to join a union, and employers’ right to fire employers.
On Election Day, Trump deepened his support among voters without a college degree, after running slightly ahead of Democrat Joe Biden with non-college voters in 2020. Trump made modest gains, taking a clear majority from this group, while only about 4 in 10 supported Harris. , according to AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide.
About 18% of voters in this year’s election came from union households, with Harris winning the majority of the group. But Trump’s performance among union members kept him competitive and helped him win key states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Chavez-DeRemer was one of a handful of Republicans in the House of Representatives to support the Protecting the Right to Organize, or PRO Act, which would allow more workers to lead organizing campaigns and impose penalties on companies that violate workers’ rights violate. The measure would weaken “right to work” laws that allow workers in more than half of states to avoid joining or paying dues to unions that represent workers in their workplaces.
During Trump’s first term, clear pro-business policies were pursued by his appointees across the government, including those on the National Labor Relations Board. Trump, a real estate developer and businessman before becoming president, has generally supported policies that would make it harder for workers to unionize.
During his recent campaign, Trump criticized union bosses, at one point suggesting that UAW members should not pay their dues. His first administration did expand overtime eligibility rules, but not nearly as much as Democrats wanted, and a Trump-appointed judge has since struck down the Biden administration’s more generous overtime rules.
He has stacked his new administration with officials who worked on the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” blueprint, which marks a sharp turn from Biden’s pro-union policies.
“Chavez-DeRemer’s track record shows that she understands the value of policies that strengthen workers’ rights and economic security,” said Rebecca Dixon, president and CEO of the National Employment Law Project, which is supported by many of the largest unions in the country. “But the Trump administration’s agenda is fundamentally at odds with these principles and threatens to roll back workplace protections, undermine collective bargaining, and prioritize corporate profits over the needs of working people. This is where her true commitment to employees will be tested.”
Other union leaders also offered praise, but also sounded a note of caution.
“Educators and working families across the country will be watching … as she moves through the confirmation process,” National Education Association President Becky Pringle said in a statement, “and hope to hear a commitment from her to continue to build on to stand up for workers and students, as her track record suggests, and not to remain blindly loyal to the Project 2025 agenda.”
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler welcomed the choice, while noting that Trump has a history of opposing policies that support unions.
“It remains to be seen what she will be allowed to do as Secretary of Labor in an administration with a dramatically anti-labor agenda,” Shuler said.
