Labor Nominee Chavez-DeRemer: More Trump Loyalist Than Union Ally [View all]

[Celerity]

A cursory look at her record reveals the standard contemporary GOP positions.

https://prospect.org/politics/2024-12-04-labor-nominee-chavez-deremer-trump-loyalist/



President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for labor secretary, Oregon Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, has been portrayed as the rare pro-union Republican, but a quick review of her history as an elected representative reveals a more mixed record. There are also indications that she will carry out the role, if confirmed, as a Trump loyalist, much as we’ve seen with the incoming administration’s other named nominees. Chavez-DeRemer is the daughter of a Teamster union member, and the former mayor of Happy Valley, Oregon. She’s also a businesswoman, and founded a network of medical clinics along with her husband that brings in between $1 million and $5 million a year, according to her federal financial disclosures.

Chavez-DeRemer lost her re-election race last month after serving one term in Congress. She has generally been described as a pro-worker Republican who diverges from the GOP’s usual exclusionary preference for employers and business interests in all labor matters. Most notably, reports have pointed out that Chavez-DeRemer is one of just three Republicans who co-sponsored the PRO Act, a proposed bill to expand and protect workers’ rights that has been roundly rejected by conservatives, big businesses, and virtually every other Republican member of Congress.



Her nomination has been endorsed by Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, and has received praise from other union leaders for some of her legislative votes supporting workers’ union rights and in favor of preserving the Department of Education and public schools. Chavez-DeRemer was the only Republican on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce who opposed a proposal to reduce the National Labor Relations Board’s authority over disputes between employers and unions; and she co-sponsored a bill to allow workers to receive tax deductions when paying membership dues to their unions, the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported in August. Yet when Republicans on the House labor subcommittee “scheduled six meetings that devolved into union-bashing, Chavez-DeRemer did not attend and publicly support labor,” the Chronicle noted. Indeed, throughout her term, the Republican rep walked “a fine line between appealing to labor unions and business interests,” according to the Chronicle.

Indeed, according to the AFL-CIO’s congressional ratings, Chavez-DeRemer voted for policies that favor workers just 10 percent of the time, only slightly higher than the 6 percent score for the average House Republican. She voted in favor of a bill that would undermine the unemployment insurance program, for example, including by penalizing recipients for inadvertent errors; and for legislation that would loosen regulation of health benefits and allow employers to offer plans that aren’t backed by adequate reserves, the AFL-CIO said. Chavez-DeRemer has also voted against one of the biggest labor priorities of the past decade—a “joint employer” rule to restrict companies’ ability to effectively outsource certain legal, pay, and benefits obligations to third parties, like contractors and franchisees.

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