On Labor Day, More Than 60 Ways Trump Has Hurt Workers

August 31, 2018

As we honor the American labor movement, here is a look at some of the many ways Trump has hurt workers since becoming president:

 

  1. CEOs and wealthy shareholders continue to collect billions in profits from the Trump tax law, while real wages for workers have continued to decline.

 

  1. Workers are shouldering a rising share of federal tax revenue, while corporate tax payments are plunging toward record lows.

 

  1. Instead of using Trump’s tax cuts to benefit their workers, many corporations have actually laid off their workers.

 

  1. Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Kavanaugh, has often sided with corporations and powerful interests over workers.

 

  1. Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch to the the Supreme Court in order to strip rights away from workers and organized labor through the Janus decision.

 

  1. The Trump administration released new rules expanding short-term junk insurance plans, which have a long history of fraud and abuse that have left employers and employees with hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid medical bills.

 

  1. Trump signed executive orders to weaken federal unions by limiting time spent on union duties and charging unions rent, as well as to hurt unions' ability to negotiate on workers' behalf and deprive workers of their right to due process in the workplace.

 

  1. Trump hired an anti-worker lawyer to staff his administration’s labor union oversight office.

 

  1. The Trump administration eliminated a rule requiring employers to disclose use of anti-union consultants.

 

  1. Trump proposed reorganizing the federal government in a way that would dismantle the Department of Labor.

 

  1. Trump abruptly switched the administration’s  position to allow employers to force workers to contract away their rights to collectively challenge workplace abuses, including sexual harassment and racial discrimination.

 

  1. Trump wanted to bypass Congress to grant a new $100 billion tax break for investors that would give more than 80 percent of the benefits to the top 1%, and nothing to workers.

 

  1. Trump ended DACA, sabotaged every bipartisan fix, and rescinded TPS for hundreds of thousands of immigrants. Together, these actions could force more than a million working people back into the shadows.

 

  1. Treasury proposed scrapping a requirement that companies disclose the pay ratio between chief executives and employees.

 

  1. Trump’s Labor Department rescinded a rule meant to fight worker misclassification and protect workers from being cheated out of their wages.

 

  1. Trump’s Labor Department proposed eliminating protections against employers from pooling, and potentially stealing, workers’ tips.

 

  1. Trump’s NLRB overturned a rule that would have made it easier for franchise workers to collectively bargain with big corporations.

 

  1. The Trump administration reversed its position in the Janus case, paving the way for the Supreme Court to undermine public-sector unions.  

 

  1. Trump’s Labor Department stopped publicizing fines against companies accused of violating workplace safety rules, eliminating a major tool for workplace safety enforcement.

 

  1. Trump’s budget cut funding by nearly half for Adult Employment and Training Activities, which serve veterans, Native Americans, and young people who have dropped out of high school.

 

  1. Trump’s budget would cut $407 million in spending on Jobs Corps centers for disadvantaged youth.

 

  1. Trump’s budget would freeze funding for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) grants for adult, youth, and dislocated worker training at FY17 levels.

 

  1. Trump’s budget cut funding for National Dislocated Worker Grants, which offer support for those who lose their jobs in natural disasters or factory closures.

 

  1. Trump’s budget cuts Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funding, which states use for employment services and job training.

 

  1. Trump’s budget got rid of USDA’s Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program, which help spur job creation and economic growth in rural areas.

 

  1. Trump’s budget has no specific proposals for creating jobs for those who want them but can’t find them.

 

  1. Trump’s budget eliminates $11 million in grants for workplace safety programs.

 

  1. Trump’s budget eliminates an OSHA program that provides training and education on workplace safety and health hazards

 

  1. Trump signed a bill that rolled back OSHA worker safety regulations that aimed to track and reduce workplace injuries and deaths.

 

  1. Trump rescinded a rule that gave OSHA authority to issue citations and levy fines against companies for failing to record illnesses, injuries, and deaths.

 

  1. The Trump administration proposed rescinding major portions of the requirement that  employers to electronically report workplace injuries so that safety data can be made public.

 

  1. The Trump administration rolled back Obama-era changes that required OSHA to disclose workplace deaths and injuries.

 

  1. The Trump administration delayed a rule intended to sharply lower occupational exposure to beryllium, a widely used mineral linked to a deadly lung disease.

 

  1. The number of workplace safety inspectors sharply declined under Trump as his administration dragged its feet on filling OSHA vacancies.

 

  1. Trump repealed the “blacklisting rule,” which had required federal contractors to disclose labor violations.

 

  1. Trump’s budget proposed eliminating the Chemical Safety Board, which investigates major industrial accidents.

 

  1. Trump proposed gutting the Labor Department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs’ budget from $86 million to $19 million, which helps ensure American workers can compete on a level playing field.

 

  1. The Trump administration planned to disband the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which has policed discrimination among federal contractors for four decades.

 

  1. Trump’s budget proposed that the Labor Department’s compliance division be folded into the EEOC, even though it historically only acts on complaints instead of systematically conducting audits.

 

  1. Trump’s Justice Department sided against workers in a Supreme Court battle over employers enforcing arbitration agreements that prevent workers’ ability to join together in collective lawsuits or arbitrations.

 

  1. The Trump administration doomed the Fiduciary Rule, aimed at protecting retirement savers against brokers’ conflicts-of-interest, and proposed a watered-down replacement.

 

  1. Trump proposed cuts to key economic development programs for rural areas and farm workers.

 

  1. Despite Trump’s “Hire American” rhetoric, his properties have requested permission to bring in hundreds of foreign workers.

 

  1. Trump’s infrastructure plan does not provide adequate financing and could increase costs for working families.

 

  1. Trump’s executive order targeting Medicaid, nutrition assistance, housing assistance, and other safety net programs would make it harder for low-wage workers to feed their families and search for higher-paying jobs.

 

  1. Trump repeatedly supported Republican plans to repeal Obamacare that would have led to fewer employers offering health insurance to their workers.

 

  1. Republican ACA repeal plans would threaten the flexibility that the ACA gave middle- and working-class Americans to change jobs or careers without worrying about how they would stay insured.

 

  1. The Trump administration tried to make it easier for employers to refuse to offer contraceptive coverage in their employees’ health insurance plans.

 

  1. Trump halted an Obama-era rule that would have required large companies to report what they pay employees by race and gender to help shrink the wage gap.

 

  1. Trump’s moves would make it easier for corporations to pay women less.

 

  1. Trump revoked the 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Order that ensured companies with federal contracts complied with labor and civil rights laws.

 

  1. Trump’s executive order reversing the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order could make it harder for workers to report sexual harassment and fight gender discrimination.

 

  1. Trump’s Labor Department relaxed Obama-era pay discrimination policies and let businesses shape investigations of federal contractors.

 

  1. After lobbying from Wall Street, Trump signed a repeal of an Obama-era measure designed to help workers without 401(k) plans save for retirement.

 

  1. The Trump administration abandoned an Obama-era rule that would have expanded overtime pay eligibility to millions more workers.

 

  1. Trump blocked an Obama-era rule that would have made it easier for farmers to sue big agricultural companies.

 

  1. Trump’s DOJ said employers could fire employees based on their sexual orientation, directly contradicting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

 

  1. The Trump administration reversed a 2014 memo that protected transgender workers from discrimination.

 

  1. Trump’s Labor Department reissued guidance on the Fair Labor Standards Act that could allow employers to avoid paying overtime and complying with other labor protections.
     

  2. Trump’s budget proposed cutting funding for clean energy jobs.

 

  1. Trump appointed officials to the EPA that don’t believe pollution or other harmful chemicals kill workers.

 

  1. Trump cancelled across-the-board pay raises for nearly 2 million civilian federal government workers.

 

  1. The Trump administration proposed $143 billion in cuts to retirement benefits for federal retirees.