Monday morning musings for workplace watchers
Labor Agenda Liftoff | Employers’ ‘College Debt’ Question
Ben Penn: Three developments central to shaping the Biden administration’s workplace policy agenda are likely to converge in the next month.
The first involves the fate of transformative labor provisions in Democrats’ House-approved reconciliation bill, now subject to negotiation in the Senate. Second is the White House’s yet-to-be-unveiled task force report recommending executive actions to aid union organizing. And third is the semiannual agenda that lists each federal agency’s rulemaking playbook over the next year.
These items are operating on separate tracks, and we wonder whether Democrats’ reconciliation dance will outlast New Year’s Eve reveling. Yet they’re all connected. Collectively, they serve as a reminder that the midterms are less than a year out, meaning time is running short for the White House and congressional Democrats to put their stamp on labor and employment policy before they could potentially lose their slim majorities on Capitol Hill.
The endgame for Democrats’ tax and social spending bill, aka President Joe Biden‘s Build Back Better framework, carries the greatest significance because legislation would endure into future administrations. The outcome will determine whether first-of-their-kind labor law fines, significantly increased wage and safety penalties, robust enforcement funding, and paid leave will make the final bill.
Wrangling between...
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