Idahoans Target Big Labor Collection Racket
“Idaho prospects are better this year than in 2021, thanks to significant turnover in the Republican primaries last year in both chambers of the Idaho Legislature,” said Mr. Kalb.
Will Senate GOP Show ‘Love’ For Union Dons?
Right to Work Opposes Teamster-Backed Labor Secretary Nominee
According to a scientific nationwide survey conducted last year by RMG Research, a consulting firm launched by legendary pollster Scott Rasmussen, Republican voters support the Right to Work principle by an overwhelming 11-to-one margin.
This poll was commissioned by the National Right to Work Committee.
Early this year, Committee leaders and grassroots members lobbied hard to encourage every member of the 53-strong Senate GOP caucus to side with their own electoral base rather than Teamster czar Sean O’Brien and other union kingpins on a critical upcoming vote.
Specifically, the Committee urged Republican and Democrat senators alike to oppose the confirmation of ex-Oregon Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer as U.S. labor secretary on account of the radically anti-Right to Work record she had established during her short two years on Capitol Hill.
‘Donald Trump Didn’t Win’ By ‘Pandering to Power-Hungry Union Bosses’
During her brief time in Congress, Ms. Chavez-DeRemer cosponsored legislation that would have instantly vaporized Right to Work laws in all 26 states where they are in effect, while forever preventing all state legislatures from enacting new Right to Work laws in the future.
Donald Trump has strongly and continuously opposed this anti-worker omnibus bill, commonly referred to as the “PRO Act,” since his first presidential term.
And during his 2024 presidential campaign, even as he courted the support of Teamster czar Sean O’Brien, Mr. Trump pointedly rejected a demand from Mr. O’Brien and other Teamster bigwigs that he back away from his past public support for national Right to Work legislation in order to get their backing.
In fact, that’s the reason he didn’t get Teamster officials’ endorsement last year, even though, by Mr. O’Brien’s own admission, 60% or more of rank-and-file Teamster members backed the Trump-Vance ticket over Democrats Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
National Right to Work Committee Vice President Matthew Leen observed:
“Donald Trump didn’t win in 2024 by pandering to power-hungry union bosses. And there’s no logical reason for the White House to start pandering to them now.”
Tacitly recognizing that her record is completely out of line with the views of the vast majority of Republican voters and, indeed, the entire American electorate, Ms. Chavez-DeRemer sought to distance herself from the PRO Act again and again during a February 19 Senate panel hearing on her nomination.
As This Newsletter Went to Press, Nomination Was Hanging in the Balance
But Ms. Chavez-DeRemer also sent a signal she hadn’t really changed her stripes when, in response to a question from a Big Labor Democrat senator, she seemingly endorsed the Biden Labor Department’s scheme to wipe out job-training opportunities for union-free construction apprentices.
At press time, the scheduled February 27 panel vote on the nomination was pending, and it was still unclear if a majority of members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee would vote to confirm her.
Mr. Leen commented: “Normally proRight to Work Sen. Markwayne Mullin [R-Okla.], who reportedly joined with pro-forced dues Sen. Josh Hawley [RMo.] to sell Ms. Chavez-DeRemer for labor secretary to the Trump transition team, admits a number of Republicans may oppose her because of her antiemployee record.
“Mr. Mullin nevertheless continues to insist the nomination was a good idea, since it demonstrates that GOP politicians have ‘embraced the unions’ and are eager to ‘show them . . . love.’
“He also claims losing GOP votes is no problem for Ms. Chavez-DeRemer because ‘she’ll pick up a lot of [Big Labor] Democrats too, so she’ll be confirmed.’”
However, judging by the uniformly hostile questions Democrat members of the HELP panel directed at her during her confirmation hearing, it appeared in advance of the committee vote Democrat support for Ms. Chavez-DeRemer would be minimal.
“If the vast majority of Democrats vote against Ms. Chavez-DeRemer, it could take the opposition of just a few pro-Right to Work GOP senators to stop the nomination from being approved,” concluded Mr. Leen.
This article was originally published in our monthly newsletter. Go here to access previous newsletter posts.
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