President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to oversee labor unions didn't sit well with Rupert Murdoch's prestigious newspaper the Wall Street Journal, whose editorial board lamented Trump's pick Friday night as a "regrettable choice."
Trump nominated Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) to become the nation's next labor secretary, touting her as the right person for the job to grow languishing wages and resurrect manufacturing jobs. She has the support of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien and teachers union chief Randi Weingarten.
She was the first Republican woman to represent the state in the House and one of the first two Hispanic women from the state elected to Congress. In the past, she has touted her "strong record of delivering bipartisan results."
She lost her re-election bid to Democrat Janelle Bynum during an election in which Chavez-DeRemer was described by Democrats as an "extremist in moderate’s clothing who has attempted over and over to mislead Oregonians about her out-of-touch beliefs – especially on her votes against reproductive freedom."
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The Journal reacted by calling the selection "hard to believe," as she appeared to contradict Trump's statement that she will work toward "historic cooperation between Business and Labor." Chavez-DeRemer, the board said, "has backed union giveaways like the Pro Act, which are not 'cooperation.'"
The Protecting the Right to Organize Act is a proposed law that would expand labor protections for workers, including strengthening union rights and banning employers from holding mandatory meetings meant to discourage union membership.
"Why would Mr. Trump want to empower labor bosses who oppose his economic agenda and spent masses to defeat him?" asked the editorial board, calling Chavez-DeRemer a "regrettable choice."
The Journal complained that the legislation would "effectively ban gig jobs" and "upend the franchise business model and contracting arrangements to make it easier for unions to organize workers."
This, the board argued, would return the labor force to World War II era days, when strikes were "rampant" and labor mobility was more difficult.
Moreover, the Journal fears that requiring states and localities to collectively bargain with government workers is a "recipe to turn Texas, Florida and other GOP-controlled states into fiscal basket-cases like Illinois, California and New York."
Putting Chavez-DeRemer in charge of the Labor Department, the Journal concluded, "will make labor bosses, not workers, more powerful again."
