The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) – an association of several hundred employers and employer associations – sent letters to US Attorney General Pam Bondi to direct the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to ignore a swatch of Biden-era decisions pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order asserting that the President and the AG have the power to interpret the law for all agencies. … Continue Reading
New Leadership at the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Signals Potential Overhaul of Affirmative Action Compliance Framework
On March 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the appointment of Catherine Eschbach as Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), the agency charged with overseeing regulation and enforcement of affirmative action laws for government contractors and subcontractors. Eschbach signaled a shift in the agency’s mission, stating the OFCCP “will restore a merit-based system to provide all workers with equal opportunity.”… Continue Reading
Trump Rescinds Additional Biden-Era Executive Orders, Rolling Back Minimum Wage and Labor-Friendly Provisions for Federal Contractors
Following President Trump’s issuance of Executive Order 14148 on January 20, 2025, which rescinded 78 executive actions taken by Former President Biden, the President rescinded an additional slew of Biden-era executive actions on March 14. Among the 18 executive actions revoked is a duo of Executive Orders which applied to federal contractors and subcontractors and will impact labor and employment issues:
- Executive Order 14026 of April 27, 2021 (Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors); and
- Executive Order 14126 of September 6, 2024 (Investing in America and Investing in American Workers).
Senate Confirms Chavez-DeRemer as 30th Secretary of Labor and Sonderling as Deputy Secretary
On March 10, 2025, in a 67-32 vote, the Senate confirmed the appointment of one-term Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer as the 30th Secretary of Labor and former EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling as Deputy Secretary.
Formally nominated by President Trump on January 20, 2025, Chavez-DeRemer (R) represented Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District from 2022-2024, sitting on House Committees for Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, and Transportation and Infrastructure.… Continue Reading
NLRB Acting General Counsel Rescinds Numerous Biden-Era Guidance Memoranda
The National Labor Relations Board’s Acting General Counsel has moved quickly to undo the work of his predecessor, a Biden appointee, who President Trump recently removed from office. On February 14, 2025, Acting General Counsel William B. Cowen rescinded more than a dozen guidance memoranda that many employers considered to be significantly favorable to unions. … Continue Reading
President Trump Appoints NLRB Acting General Counsel
Since his inauguration, President Donald Trump has been making changes to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) almost every day.
New NLRB Acting General Counsel
On February 3, 2025, President Donald Trump appointed William B. Cowen as Acting General Counsel of the NLRB. This comes on the heels of the President firing former NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, Board Member Gwynne Wilcox, and Acting General Counsel Jessica Rutter.… Continue Reading
Labor Leadership Takes an Expected (and Unexpected) Change
One week after his inauguration, President Donald Trump has taken additional moves to impact the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
Trump Moves Quickly to Reshape the NLRB
As we expected, and reported here, President Trump has moved quickly to re-make the NLRB. Almost immediately after taking office, the President named Republican board member Marvin Kaplan as Chair of the NLRB. … Continue Reading
California Court of Appeal Says No More “Headless” PAGA Lawsuits
In an effort to avoid arbitrating individual claims under the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), a recent trend emerged in California litigation involving “headless” PAGA lawsuits. Essentially, plaintiffs would expressly disclaim bringing individual PAGA claims, and instead, assert “representative-only” PAGA claims. The distinction is significant, because if there is no individual PAGA claim, there is nothing to arbitrate, and the parties may proceed to litigating the representative PAGA claim in court.… Continue Reading
On Eve of New Administration (and new Board Composition), NLRB Limits Employer’s Ability to Make Unilateral Changes
On Tuesday, December 10, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision that will make it more difficult for a unionized employer to make unilateral changes to working conditions. The decision, Endurance Environmental, found here, overturns a Trump-era rule established in 2019 and returns to the “clear and unmistakable” waiver standard which had been in place for decades.… Continue Reading
NLRB Bans Captive Audience Meetings and Limits Employer Campaign Statements in Recent Cases
Reversing decades of precedent, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) issued two recent decisions that will significantly restrict the right of employers to provide information to their employees about the impact of unionization. Both cases were decided by a 3-1 majority of the Board’s Democratic members, in what appears to be an eleventh-hour push to change well-settled law in advance of the Trump administration taking the reins next year.… Continue Reading