September 04, 2017

New Report Shows President Trump is Failing Workers, Breaking Promises

On Labor Day, Sen. Warren Releases Review of Administration's Anti-Worker Actions and Policies

PDF of the report available here

Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today released a report on the Trump Administration's treatment of workers, comparing then-candidate Trump's promises to his actions as President. On the campaign trail, then-candidate Trump promised to protect and fight for workers, create jobs and raise wages, drain the swamp, and put American workers' interests above donors and special interests. To mark President Trump's first Labor Day in office, Senator Warren released the findings of an in-depth look at Labor Department and National Labor Relations Board appointees, labor legislation, rollbacks of worker protections, and budget proposals. The results are simple: President Trump is failing the American worker.

"The playing field in this country is tilted hard against working people," said Senator Warren. "On the campaign trail, President Trump promised to put workers first. But since taking office, the Trump Administration has repeatedly betrayed American workers. I'm releasing this report to shine a light on what this Administration is doing and to hold the President accountable."

The report, "Not Working for Workers," finds that instead of "fighting for American workers, President Trump has pushed policies and initiatives that advance corporate special interests at the expense of America's workers." President Trump has chosen "numerous DOL and NLRB appointees with histories of supporting and proposing policies that are harmful to workers," including Andrew Puzder, who ran a company with "a prolific record of labor abuses;" and William Emanuel, who "has spent decades representing large employers and trade associations, which supported his nomination, against workers and unions" - just to name a few.

Using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), Republicans in Congress passed and President Trump signed into law five rollbacks of important worker protections, including a bill "giving employers a free pass to falsify or neglect to keep accurate workplace injury records and increasing the odds that worker will be injured or even killed," and overturning a rule that tried to "stop taxpayer money from going to companies that steal wages, endanger workers, and violate their employees' civil rights."

The report also notes a number of basic worker protections that the Trump Administration has delayed or weakened, including "working to deny 4.2 million workers eligibility for overtime pay" by revoking the Obama Administration's overtime rule, delaying rules that protect workers from toxic substances including beryllium and silica, and delaying a rule that "protected workers' retirement savings by requiring investment advisers to recommend the products that are in the best interest of their clients." The report also points out that Trump's proposed budget would cut billions of dollars of funding from the Labor Department and damage the Department's ability to enforce federal labor laws and protect and support the nation's workers and retirees.

A PDF of the report is available here.

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