Employers’ group tees off on Chavez-DeRemer amid Labor secretary chatter

An employer group is sounding the alarm about the possibility that President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Labor secretary, zeroing in on the Oregon Republican’s support for legislation that has been a top priority for unions.

“The PRO Act would deprive employees of their right to a secret ballot and their privacy in union representation elections,” Kristen Swearingen, president of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, said in a statement.

“It would also impose overly broad liability for ‘joint employment,’ limiting opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and create rigid standards for independent contractors, undermining workers’ ability to work independently.”

Chavez-DeRemer emerged as a possible pick to head the Labor Department after she was backed by Teamsters President Sean O’Brien and some of her fellow GOP lawmakers, POLITICO reported Tuesday.

She was one of the only Republicans to back the PRO Act and was endorsed by some of her state’s major unions in her recent reelection bid, which she narrowly lost to Democratic state Rep. Janelle Bynum.

If President-elect Donald Trump were to tap her for Labor secretary, it would be a stark departure from the employer-friendly labor officials who worked for his first administration.

In addition to the PRO Act, Chavez-DeRemer also co-sponsored legislation that made it easier for public safety workers to collectively bargain.