Independent professionals and tiny businesses were hoping to breathe a sigh of relief that President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election would mean an end to the repression of freelancers by Democrats and the United States Department of Labor. We were encouraged by the thought that, after years of increasing resistance from unions and regulators, we might finally have the freedom to do our chosen work without threats or reprisals. The appointment of soon-to-be former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) as Secretary of Labor quickly dashed that hope. Trump appears to have struck a Faustian bargain with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, the first time a union boss has appeared at a Republican convention.
As is their wont, unions generally support Democrats. While some saw this as a positive sea change, freelancers and tiny business owners saw it for what it was: a warning sign. While Trump’s first administration was based on independent professionals, entrepreneurs, freelancers and tiny businesses, this Trump campaign and potential administration tried to be pro-union. It looks like the modern government is selling out the money 64 million Americans who simply want to be left alone to pursue economic happiness unencumbered. This was confirmed with the nomination of Chavez-DeRemer. O’Brien boasted about pushing her as a candidate on the Trump transition team, and he campaigned for her on his X account.
Thanks @realDonaldTrump for putting American workers first by nominating Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer as U.S. Secretary of Labor. Almost a year ago you came to us for a year @Teamsters Roundtable and committed to listening to workers and finding common ground to protect and respect workers in… pic.twitter.com/C6jZw1PqkB
— Sean M. O’Brien (@TeamsterSOB) November 23, 2024
Thanks @realDonaldTrump for putting American workers first by nominating Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer as U.S. Secretary of Labor. Almost a year ago you came to us for a year @Teamsters Roundtable and pledged to listen to workers and find common ground to protect and respect workers in America. They put words into action. Now let’s raise wages and improve working conditions across the country. Congratulations to @LChavezDeRemer for your nomination! North America’s strongest union is ready to work with you every step of the way to create good union jobs and rebuild our nation’s middle class. Let’s get to work! #TeamsterStrong
For O’Brien, “putting American workers first” means eliminating independent professionals and tiny businesses. Many of us hire the very workers O’Brien claims to want to put first. How does the destruction of our companies serve this purpose? Aaron Withe, CEO of the Freedom Foundation, wrote:
As workers continue to desert the Teamsters’ base, O’Brien’s ultimate goal in appealing to Republicans is to repeal state right-to-work laws that grant workers the freedom to decide whether to join a union , a long-standing “priority” for the Teamsters and the rest of Big Labor, most recently through the passage of the so-called Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
If O’Brien succeeds in persuading the potential Republican administration to withdraw pro-worker union reforms in return for a likely inconsequential non-endorsement, he will have less demonstrated his skill as a negotiator than revealed the Republicans’ naivety.
Now that Chavez-DeRemer has lost her congressional seat, she is in the perfect position to do even more damage. Many freelancers view her as O’Brien’s Trojan horse to influence the revival of the PRO Act and ensure that the regulatory version included in the Biden-Harris independent contractor final rule is enforced. As a adolescent congresswoman, Chavez-DeRemer was a co-sponsor of the PRO Act and another bill that would be a direct attack on freelancers. This provides insight into how she could potentially lead the U.S. Department of Labor.
Michael Watson from Capital Search said the same thing so much.
O’Brien likely hopes that a Chavez-DeRemer-led Labor Department would continue the Biden administration’s policies Acting Secretary Julie Suwho have targeted independent contractors and franchise business owners, two sworn enemies of Big Labor.
In addition to being one of three Republicans who co-sponsored and voted for the PRO Act, Chavez-DeRemer was also one of eight Republicans who co-sponsored the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, another ploy to undermine protections for businesses and to cause major interference in the world of work in the employer/employee relationship.
But one of the key clues that Chavez-DeRemer had little interest in seeing freelancers and tiny businesses thrive is her tiny tenure on the House Education and Workforce Committee. In March, the Biden-Harris DOL dropped the independent contractor final rule that incorporated the worst tenets of the PRO Act and California’s AB5, which destroyed the livelihoods of 600 different professions. Kevin Kiley, CA MP and co-chair of the committee, wrote the draft HJ Res. 116a joint resolution of the Congressional Review Act to repeal this dictatorial rule. Like any bill or resolution, it first goes through committee before being presented to the full House of Representatives for a vote. On the morning the committee was supposed to vote, Chavez-DeRemer did not Struggling to show up.
As the voting results above show, she was present that day to vote on other bills before the House, but somehow disappeared from the Education and Workforce Committee when a critical “yes” vote was required.
It was clear from this and other actions that Chavez-DeRemer’s sole purpose in joining the committee was to burnish her pro-labor credibility. Chavez-DeRemer missed other committee meetings and press statements, particularly those that could be viewed as concurring with her Republican colleagues on the committee.
Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer continues to walk a fine line between appeals to unions and business interests that typically support Republicans.
In July, she became only the third Republican member of Congress to co-sponsor the sweeping pro-union Protecting the Right to Organize Act, and she has courted union support in her re-election campaign while discussing her father’s experiences as a member of the Union The Teamsters union spoke at the convention. But when her fellow Republicans on the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee held a series of anti-union meetings last year, Chavez-DeRemer did not show up or join Democratic representatives in advocating for unions.
Chavez-DeRemer spokesman Aaron Britt did not say why she missed those five meetings, but in a statement defended her record on labor issues.
“Lori’s opponents are trying to attack her undeniably strong pro-worker record because they are afraid of the independent support coalition she worked hard to build in her first term,” Britt said. “There’s a reason Lori has received the support of nearly a dozen unions – she has worked tirelessly to earn their trust by fighting for registered apprenticeships, fair wages, safe working conditions and much more.”
Independent journalist Chelly Bouferrache lives in Chavez-DeRemer’s Oregon district and had the opportunity to interview her shortly before November 5th. Boufferache said:
“I seriously don’t think she wanted to win. I spoke to her maybe two weeks before election day. She was on the ground [in the race]. I wrote a news story about their arrival in Lebanon [OR]and she was very… undisturbed. It shocked me.
Perhaps Chavez-DeRemer had already come to terms with the interests of O’Brien and the unions and was confident that she would have a feather in her seat in DC. Bouferrache noted that Chavez-DeRemer “is able to build strong coalitions with people quickly. She is extremely likeable.” ”
Chavez-DeRemer has considered all aspects and proven that she is a consummate politician. That doesn’t mean she will be a competent labor minister.
Independent professionals are so busy building our businesses and doing our essential work that our significant contributions to the nation’s economy are being overlooked and ignored – including by President Joe Biden and President-elect Trump. Whenever the term “working class” is used, it always refers to the unions, which make up less than 10 percent of Americans. 64 million Americans (and grows) who make a contribution $1.3 trillion in income Impacts on the economy should not be ignored, dismissed or left for destruction; but here we are.
Unfortunately, it’s back to the battle stations of the independent professionals because this nomination doesn’t bode well for us. We fought strenuous in front of and behind the scenes to get rid of pro-union Democratic barnacles like Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey’s final independent contractor rule. Chavez-DeRemer has proven that she is not on the side of freelancers or workers; She is on the side of the union bosses and herself. Chavez-DeRemer is just another union activist forced to take control of the levers of power to destroy the independent contractor model and the economic freedom of all Americans.
