HELP GOP raises alarm about Biden’s chief mediator nominee

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FIRST IN SHIFT: A pair of Republicans on the Senate HELP committee are raising concerns about President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the independent federal agency tasked with facilitating labor contract negotiations, citing allegations of potential employment discrimination.

Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) sent a letter Friday to the Office of Personnel Management and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service regarding allegations against Javier Ramirez, a career official currently serving as deputy director of field operations who Biden picked to be director.

The senators say that multiple Equal Employment Opportunity complaints have been filed by FMSC staffers, stemming from organizational restructuring at the agency they allege acting director Gregory Goldstein has undertaken at Ramirez’s behest.

“Whistleblowers have also alleged that this restructuring effort led to the ouster and/or demotion of several people of color in senior management roles in favor of individuals more supportive of Mr. Ramirez’s restructuring efforts,” the letter obtained by POLITICO states. “If true, these allegations not only call into question Mr. Ramirez’s nomination before the U.S. Senate, but also call into question whether FMCS and its senior leadership are fostering a hostile workplace that discourages diversity and inclusion.”

A spokesperson for FMCS said the agency “does not have knowledge of any filings before the EEOC titled against Mr. Ramirez,” and said that the restructuring was initiated by Goldstein “based on evidence from client feedback, declining case activation rates, inefficient operations, inconsistent application of administrative functions, and a variety of other reasons.”

The spokesperson said that 16 management positions were affected as a result of the initiative, but that job determinations were made a by a diverse five-person panel and that any staffer whose position was affected by the shakeup was offered a senior mediator job and saw no change to their pay or benefits.

HELP Chair Bernie Sanders’ office did not return a request to comment. More details for Pros here.

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On the Hill

NOMINATIONS ON TAP: The Senate HELP Committee on Tuesday is set to consider a big batch of Biden’s labor nominees (save for the aforementioned Ramirez and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su).

They include:

  • Kalpana Kotagal to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
  • Jose Javier Rodriguez to be assistant labor secretary for the Employment and Training Administration.
  • Moshe Marvit to serve on the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.
  • Linda Puchala and Deirdre Hamilton to be members of the National Mediation Board.

Additionally HELP will vote again on Jessica Looman to serve as DOL’s Wage and Hour Division administrator. Looman’s nomination was voted on in February. However she did not make it out of committee because Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) was recovering from surgery that week and could not attend the meeting in person to cast a tie-breaking vote for Looman.

Around the Agencies

NLRB FIRES BACK AT FOXX: The National Labor Relations Board on Friday swiped back at House Education and Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx’s subpoena for a regional official’s information related to allegations involving the agency’s treatment of Starbucks and the union seeking to organize its stores, Olivia reports for Pros.

Matt Hayward, the NLRB’s deputy director for congressional affairs, said in a letter that the committee’s “unprecedented action significantly threatens interference with ongoing investigations and litigation, infringement of parties’ due process rights, and compromise of the integrity of the Agency’s processes.”

The letter said that the information Foxx is seeking is overly broad and releasing it could create issues for pending cases. It also urged the committee to “pursue its document request through well-established channels that allow Agency involvement and consultation.”

But the NLRB’s brushback did nothing to dissuade the North Carolina Republican.

“A whistleblower from within the NLRB has accused the agency of tilting the playing field in favor of Big Labor. Why in the world would the Committee go directly to this agency and give it an opportunity to hide this misconduct from the American people?” Foxx said in a statement.

More agency news: “Court blocks COVID-19 vaccine mandate for US gov’t workers,” from The Associated Press.

In the Workplace

HOLDING STEADY: Initial unemployment filings remain nearly flat, down 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 191,000 last week, according to weekly Labor Department data.

“The level of claims fluctuated earlier this month, in part because of school closures, but broadly remains historically low. The four-week average of weekly claims, which smooths out volatility in the weekly numbers, edged lower last week to 196,250,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

More workplace news: “‘Zoom Towns’ Exploded in the Work-From-Home Era. Now New Residents Are Facing Layoffs,” from Bloomberg.

Unions

CONTRACT TIME AT AFL-CIO: Contract negotiations at the AFL-CIO are set to begin as the federation’s contract with its unionized staff expires March 31.

It will be its first contract negotiated under President Liz Shuler, who took over in mid-2021 following the sudden passing of Richard Trumka. The expiring contract was for five years, though shorter two or three year deals have been common in the past.

The contract covers about 100 AFL-CIO staffers in D.C. and various regional outposts for the national organization — ranging from researchers to field operations to policy analysts and lobbyists — but does not include the hundreds of workers for the various state and local branches under the AFL-CIO umbrella.

Disclosure: The AFL-CIO unit is part of The NewsGuild-CWA, which represents journalists from media outlets including POLITICO.

More union news: “Amazon Union Gets Favorable Finding on Warehouse Access for Organizing,” from The New York Times.

Even more union news: “Bob King opens up on UAW corruption scandal: ‘I’m really angry,’” from the Detroit Free Press.

IN THE STATES

MICHIGAN REPEALS RIGHT-TO-WORK: For the first time in nearly 60 years a state has repealed a right-to-work law, with Democrats in Michigan dismantling a statue that sparked controversy when it was enacted 11 years ago, your host reports.

The Michigan Legislature’s repeal is the first since Indiana did so in 1965, before reverting in 2012. Even with the move, more than half the states in the country have right-to-work laws on the books, and some have added them to their state constitution.

Michigan’s repeal was fueled by a variety of factors, some of which may be difficult to replicate in other right-to-work states.

Unlike other states, the law was relatively young, a significant proportion of Democratic legislators have been union members, they had high-profile conservative donors to galvanize against and a 2018 redistricting reform opened the door for Democrats to gain unified control of the statehouse for the first time since the 1980s.

More state news: “6 road construction workers die in Maryland when car crashes into them,” from The Washington Post.

Immigration

U.S., CANADA STRIKE BORDER DEAL: The U.S. and Canada hatched an agreement that would allow both countries to turn away asylum seekers who cross the border illegally, our Myah Ward reports.

The agreement will allow Canada to turn away migrants from unofficial crossing points. In exchange, Canada will also welcome an additional 15,000 Central American migrants over the next year through legal pathways.

The sudden policy shift had some migrants racing to beat a middle-of-the-night deadline to reach Canada, as illustrated by The New York Times.

Meanwhile, “U.S. authorities have been flying migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Canada border to Texas as part of a deterrence effort to tackle a rise in crossings,” Reuters reports.

What We're Reading

— “Airlines Told to Reward Managers Hiring Women as Progress Stalls,” from Bloomberg.

— “An Oakland Trader Joe’s might be California’s first to unionize. One reason: rats,” from the Los Angeles Times.

— “Short-Staffed Hotels Offer Career Growth to Hire Workers,” from The Wall Street Journal.

— “Workers of Color Made Up 100% of Union Growth in 2022,” from Tthe New Republic.

— “Ireland Asks: What if Artists Could Ditch Their Day Jobs?,” from The New York Times.

THAT’S ALL FOR SHIFT!