American workers will likely have two choices this November for President: a pro-worker President who has substantially reduced unemployment or a former Vice President whose policies help big labor bosses at the expense of workers. Simply put, Joe Biden’s plan for American workers is a big labor boss wish list of proposals that have been proven time and again to lead to unemployment.
One example is his support for California’s ABC test in AB5, which has forced many groups to consider their independent contractors as employees. On his website, Biden states “As president, Biden will work with Congress to establish a federal standard modeled on the ABC test for all labor, employment, and tax laws.” Unfortunately, this test has devastated California independent contractors, including journalists. Vox Media, for example, announced that it would fire hundreds of freelance writers living in California because of this law. Other groups are responding by getting exemptions from the law. Big labor bosses, however, support AB5 because they can unionize employees, not independent contractors.
Another example is Biden’s support for the Protecting the Right to Organize Act or PRO Act. The U.S. House of Representatives just passed this radical legislation. Part of the bill even includes adopting California’s ABC test at the federal level. Some estimate that this part of the bill alone would put 57 million independent contractors out of work.
Another provision in the bill would expand the definition of joint employer. After President Obama’s National Labor Relations Board expanded the definition in 2015, the franchise industry lost 376,000 job opportunities. In addition, this expanded definition cost franchise businesses $33.3 billion per year and led to 93% more lawsuits.
The PRO Act doesn’t end there. Another provision in this bill effectively ends 27 state right-to-work laws. Between 2008 and 2018 though, the percentage growth in the number of people employed in right-to-work states was 10.8%, while the percentage growth in forced-unionism states was only 5%. These are just a few of the bad provisions in the PRO Act that would kill jobs. Other provisions in the bill also reduce privacy for American workers and impact their First Amendment rights.
Big labor union bosses, however, support this legislation because the PRO Act forces workers to join and support labor unions.
A final example is Joe Biden’s support for a $15 federal minimum wage. A survey of U.S. economists in 2019 by Dr. Lloyd Corder of CorCom Inc. found that 74 percent of the economists opposed raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. 84 percent of these economists believed that a $15 minimum wage would hurt youth employment. In fact, the economists are correct. In New York City, where the minimum wage was increased to $15 per hour, 5,000 full-service restaurant jobs have been lost since 2017. Further, the Employment Policies Institute released a study in 2019 that found that a national $15 minimum wage would cost up to two million jobs. This policy again has been widely supported by big labor union bosses.
President Donald Trump, however, will not put big labor union bosses ahead of American workers. Trump is actually working to prevent future union corruption. In fact, U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia just announced a final rule to establish the “Form T-1” Trust Annual Report. This rule promotes union transparency by requiring more labor unions to file financial reports with the Department of Labor if they meet certain qualifications.
This rule is a huge win for American workers who will now be able to follow how their dues are being spent. It is especially important these days given the ongoing scandal with the United Auto Workers (UAW). The most recent update with the scandal is that former UAW President Gary Jones was just charged with conspiring to divert over $1 million in worker dues for his personal use. Jones is just the latest top official at the UAW to be charged.
However, not only will President Trump work to end union corruption, President Donald Trump will continue to promote policies, like tax reform, that have resulted in the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years. Not surprisingly, former Vice President Biden has called for a repeal of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which will hurt both small and large employers, and he wants to raise taxes by nearly $4 trillion. These tax increases will not just hurt businesses, but workers as well.
American workers know which candidate actually supports them.
Olivia Grady is Senior Fellow at the Center for Worker Freedom, a project of Americans for Tax Reform.
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