Trump Betrays the Truckers With Chavez-DeRemer

His Labor nominee’s views on gig workers could cost thousands of jobs

WSJ editorial. 

"‘President Trump and I are going to fight for the truckers,” JD Vance declared at a Pennsylvania campaign rally this summer. Well, not so much. By tapping Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer as his Labor secretary, Mr. Trump has sold out the truckers to a Teamsters boss who didn’t endorse him for President.

The American Trucking Associations issued a statement Monday pointing out that Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s “anti-trucking policies undermine our essential workforce, threaten the right of independent truckers to choose their own career path, and impede the efficiency of the supply chain.”

The group is referring to Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s support for the anti-worker Pro Act, which seeks to reclassify tens of millions of independent contractors as employees who have less flexibility and autonomy. The National Labor Relations Act bars independent contractors from unionizing, so reclassifying them as employees would assist union organizing.

Teamsters bosses blame independent contracting for its declining membership, which is roughly half what it was 50 years ago. But the bigger culprit is the union’s costly bargaining demands, which have driven dozens of companies into bankruptcy.

Take Yellow Corp., once among the country’s largest trucking companies. As we detailed last year, Yellow sought financial concessions from the Teamsters to stay afloat. President Sean O’Brien refused and tweeted the image of a gravestone in a cemetery with “Yellow” on it. The company declared bankruptcy and some 30,000 workers lost their jobs.

The main priority of Mr. O’Brien and other union chiefs is compelling Americans to pay union dues whether they want to or not. So it’s strange that Mr. Trump would do their bidding by picking Ms. Chavez-DeRemer, who supports nationalizing California’s anti-worker and anti-business laws.

The Teamsters championed California’s AB5 law, which bars most independent contracting arrangements. A Mercatus Center study this year found the law led to a 4.4% decline in employment in occupations affected by it. Many truckers left the state. Some saw their pay decline because they lost performance bonuses. Less efficient trucking operations contributed to the pile-up of goods at southern California ports in 2021.

The Biden Labor Department this year finalized a rule that mirrors AB5. As Labor secretary, Ms. Chavez-DeRemer could decide the rule’s fate and dun truckers for allegedly misclassifying workers. Mr. Vance at the Pennsylvania rally claimed Kamala Harris knew little about the trucking business. Judging by his Labor pick, Mr. Trump doesn’t either."