The GOP’s decision to drop “labor” from the name of a House committee is being interpreted by some union officials as the curtain-raiser to their efforts to pressure the Obama administration on workplace laws and regulations.
Several labor leaders contacted by The Hill said changing the name of the House Education and Labor Committee to the House Education and the Workforce Committee shows that a new boss is in town, and one not friendly to unions.
“During the [Newt] Gingrich Congress, they used the committee to gut [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration], to weaken overtime laws and undermine the rights of the workers who want to bargain for a better standard of living,” Bill Samuel, the AFL-CIO’s director of government affairs, told The Hill.
“It really does mean something,” he said of the name change. “More than the rhetoric, they have a different agenda.”
Other top figures in the labor movement agreed.
“We basically think this name change is symbolic of the new majority’s hostility toward the rights of everyday working Americans,” said Chuck Loveless, director of legislation at the American Federation of County, State and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
Alexa Marrero, a spokeswoman for the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said the union officials’ claim that the name change reflected hostility toward workers is “bizarre,” since union members are part of the workforce.
She said Republicans changed the panel’s name to reflect its “broad jurisdiction over polices that affect American students, workers and retirees.”
“The committee oversees a wide range of policies, programs, agencies and offices that affect the American workforce as a whole, and this name reflects that broad responsibility and inclusiveness,” Marrero said.
Relations between labor and House Republicans will likely be contentious this Congress.
AFSCME, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and other unions spent tens of millions of dollars in the last election cycle trying to prevent the GOP takeover of the House.
More here
Several labor leaders contacted by The Hill said changing the name of the House Education and Labor Committee to the House Education and the Workforce Committee shows that a new boss is in town, and one not friendly to unions.
“During the [Newt] Gingrich Congress, they used the committee to gut [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration], to weaken overtime laws and undermine the rights of the workers who want to bargain for a better standard of living,” Bill Samuel, the AFL-CIO’s director of government affairs, told The Hill.
“It really does mean something,” he said of the name change. “More than the rhetoric, they have a different agenda.”
Other top figures in the labor movement agreed.
“We basically think this name change is symbolic of the new majority’s hostility toward the rights of everyday working Americans,” said Chuck Loveless, director of legislation at the American Federation of County, State and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
Alexa Marrero, a spokeswoman for the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said the union officials’ claim that the name change reflected hostility toward workers is “bizarre,” since union members are part of the workforce.
She said Republicans changed the panel’s name to reflect its “broad jurisdiction over polices that affect American students, workers and retirees.”
“The committee oversees a wide range of policies, programs, agencies and offices that affect the American workforce as a whole, and this name reflects that broad responsibility and inclusiveness,” Marrero said.
Relations between labor and House Republicans will likely be contentious this Congress.
AFSCME, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and other unions spent tens of millions of dollars in the last election cycle trying to prevent the GOP takeover of the House.
More here
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