In a surprising move, President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Oregon Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer as the Secretary of Labor, garnering praise for selecting a union-backed Republican amidst a predominantly anti-union cabinet.
Chavez-DeRemer, who was nominated on November 22, joined Congress in 2023 but was defeated in her reelection bid this year by Democrat Janelle Bynum. Her 2024 campaign received endorsements from several labor unions, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Association of Flight Attendants. Notably, she supported the PRO Act, which aims to bolster workers’ rights to unionize and engage in collective bargaining.
Teamsters president Sean O’Brien expressed approval of Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination, stating in an op-ed that she “is the exact type of champion for the American worker that Republicans should get behind if they are serious about becoming the working-class party.”
However, Chavez-DeRemer’s pro-union stance appears to be an anomaly in the Trump administration, as many of Trump’s other cabinet appointees and senior advisers have shown a history of opposing workers’ rights.
Vice president-elect J.D. Vance, for instance, has received a 0% rating from the AFL-CIO, indicating a lack of pro-worker votes since his entry into the Senate in 2023. Earlier this year, Vance and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, co-authored a revision of the TEAM Act, which proposes the establishment of employer-driven workplace committees as a substitute for unionization, potentially weakening federal protections for collective bargaining.
Although their bill did not pass, Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation blueprint for Trump’s potential second term, suggests reviving this legislation. Russ Vought, a principal author of Project 2025, is poised to lead the Office of Management and Budget, while Brendan Carr, another contributor, has been chosen to chair the Federal Communications Commission.
Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, has been a proponent of right-to-work laws, which critics argue undermine union influence and compromise working conditions by preventing mandatory union membership or dues.
In 2011, Bondi opposed a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) complaint against Boeing, which accused the company of relocating operations to right-to-work states to avoid unionization and offer lower wages.
Additionally, New York Representative Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick for Ambassador to the United Nations, and Florida Representative Michael Waltz, the incoming National Security Adviser, both co-sponsored the National Right-to-Work Act last year, although it hasn’t yet faced a full House vote.
Elon Musk, a billionaire and unofficial adviser to Trump who has had input in cabinet selections, has also openly criticized unions. In 2018, Musk warned Tesla employees at a Fremont, California plant via social media that they would forfeit stock options if they unionized.
SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace company, was involved in an NLRB complaint in July when eight employees alleged they were terminated for criticizing Musk. In response, SpaceX joined a lawsuit challenging the NLRB’s constitutionality.
When questioned about unions last year at a New York Times event, Musk stated, “I disagree with the idea of unions … I just don’t like anything which creates a lords and peasants sort of thing.”
Although Chavez-DeRemer received some union endorsements in 2024, they were not comprehensive, as Bynum’s campaign was supported by AFSCME, AFL-CIO, SEIU, and the United Auto Workers.
A Trump transition team spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment on this story.
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