Dive Brief:
- U.S. unions anticipate anti-labor backlash from President-Elect Donald Trump and the GOP House and Senate majority, reports Reuters. Trump’s victory over Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton could roll back concessions unions gained under the Obama administration.
- Public-sector unions won a funding-related decision in a Supreme Court case, but only because of the 4-4 deadlock vote among the justices. The likely appointment of a conservative justice on the bench could change that. The GOP will also have control over union organizing, the overtime rule and other measures.
- Although unions are a major constituency for the Democratic Party, ABC poll results show that Trump won in union strongholds like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, home of the United Auto Workers union.
Dive Insight:
While unions worry about Trump and Republican lawmakers dominating the Belt Way, employers may receive a reprieve in what is required of them. Republicans are a pro-business political party that’s likely to reject or try to repeal pro-labor initiatives, such as a hike in the federal minimum wage, sick leave for workers hired by federal contractors and the expansion of overtime pay.
Unions might be justified in their concerns about GOP dominance in government. They’ve seen their numbers decline in the last 20 years, from 20.1% in 1983, the first year union data was available, to 11.1% in 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Union membership dropped during the same time, from 17.7 million to 14.8 million.