President Trump’s pick to be labor secretary, former Oregon Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer, disavowed her past support for the union-tilted Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. Chavez-DeRemer told the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee Wednesday that she fully supported state right to work laws, which the PRO Act would have repealed. She said she opposed other provisions of the act as well, such as its expansion of joint employer rules.
Chavez-DeRemer’s past support for the PRO-Act had earned her nomination the backing of labor leaders such as International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who was present at the Senate hearing. However, that support also presented a red flag to members of the business community and to Senate Republicans.
Her testimony was a clear sign that the Trump administration had heard the concerns of the latter groups and was seeking to allay worries that she would be a pro-union labor secretary. It appeared to mollify many of the committee’s Republicans while disappointing Democrats.
“I know there has been a lot of conversation about my support for the PRO Act,” Chavez-DeRemer told the senators. The nominee repeatedly called the controversial legislation, which was never taken up by the full Senate, “imperfect.” She claimed that she only signed onto to the legislation to have “a seat at the table” for any potential changes to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the law the legislation would have...
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