Q4 2022
SSMRC political director: Here’s what’s ahead with the 2022 mid-terms in the rear-view mirror
The 2022 mid-term elections are in the history books. If you voted, great! You have exercised your right. If you did not vote, there is 2024. If you’re not registered, you have time to fill out your registration card.

Republicans retrieved the U.S. House of Representatives with a slim margin. Democrats held onto the Senate, and the runoff-off election in Georgia solidified that narrow win as well. Let us hope the 118th Congress will not try to reverse the advances for working people and unions that Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh has put in place.

It looks like all state legislatures in our jurisdiction will be in session soon, some starting in January 2023 through May 2023. I suspect unemployment benefits and workers’ comp tort reform will be in play in some states. I will send out information on states that are putting anti-worker legislation to vote.

We will also be doing our annual Tax Fraud Days of Action in April 2023.
New U.S. House of Representatives majority plans assault on pro-worker policies
Some Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are planning oversight hearings to try to dismantle policies the U.S. Labor Department has adopted during the past two years that improve labor-law enforcement and strengthen workers' rights to join unions. A bill was introduced in the 117th Congress that would make it more difficult for workers to join unions and easy for employers to escape accountability by subcontracting to employers who break wage and other employment laws.
UBC Military Veterans Program garners U.S. Labor Department grant
For the third year in a row, the UBC Military Veterans Program will receive a U.S. Labor Department grant that provides program graduates at Fort Hood in Texas with $1,500 each to purchase tools. Graduates received the tool stipend in 2021 and 2022 and, thanks to the new award, will receive it in 2023. The grant is administered by the Texas Workforce Commission.

The Military Veterans Program helps service members transition from the military to civilian careers as millwrights and carpenters. The program recently received a grant from apparel-maker Carhartt as well. Read more.
Proposed rule would protect millwright wages
The U.S. Labor Department has proposed a rule that would make it more difficult for contractors to misclassify workers. Thank you to those who submitted comments to DOL in favor of the rule before the Dec. 13 deadline.

One of the most common ways employers in the construction industry cheat workers, including millwrights, out of fair wages and benefits is by misclassifying them as independent contractors rather than employees. The proposed rule would replace the January 2021 Independent Contractor Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act rule that was implemented under the Trump administration. Using that rule, workers are more likely to be classified as independent contractors than they were prior to 2021. Read more about about what the proposed rule would do.
Congress boosts NLRB funding, easing crisis-level shortfall; Bill also expands worker protections
Congress has approved the first funding increase for the National Labor Relations Board since 2014, averting a budget crisis but falling short of what’s needed given a dramatic rise in unionization and unfair-labor-practice charges. While the 9% NLRB funding boost was less than the 16% increase the Biden administration requested, the president signed the bill Dec. 29.

A fully funded NLRB, which is supposed to enforce worker protections and labor laws, is vital for preserving fair industry wages and benefits for tradespeople and for holding law-breaking contractors and corporations accountable. Read more about the funding increase and expanded worker protections in the same bill here.

Thank you to our members who wrote letters to their representatives as part of our campaign to encourage better funding of the NLRB.
American Rescue Plan program saves 350,000 union pensions from 60% cuts
President Biden announced on Dec. 8 the release of $36 billion to prevent drastic cuts to the pensions of more than 350,000 union workers and retirees.

Funded by the American Rescue Plan’s Special Financial Assistance Program, this is the largest award of federal financial support for worker and retiree pension security. The Special Financial Assistance Program secures more than 200 distressed multi-employer pension plans, ensuring up to 3 million workers’ pension plans remain solvent and pay full benefits through at least 2051. Read more.
Workers’ comp fraud by employers dwarfs
fraud by claimants
A report by the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud spells out the se- verity of employer workers’-compensation-premium fraud. Claimant fraud costs $9 billion a year, while employer premium fraud is far more costly at $25 billion.

The report is important because the perception of the public and insurers is that claimants are the biggest problem. Report authors cite under-reporting of payroll by employers through independent-contractor misclassification, cash pay, and the use of shell companies as the delivery methods of employer fraud schemes. The report names our parent organization, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, as a stakeholder in fighting fraud.
Learn how unions strengthen communities and democracy
Research shows states with higher union density have higher levels of civic participation and are more likely to have laws and policies that benefit working people, including higher minimum wages, paid sick leave, and other pro-worker laws. On the other hand, states with low union density invest less in health care and education. Learn more about how unions strengthen communities and democracy in this Economic Policy Institute report and here.
Rick's Reading List
Take a deep dive into two of the most violent episodes in union history with these recommended readings from SSMRC Political Director Rick Halford.

  • A 1919 shooting incident that occurred at a meeting of the Progressive Farmers and Household Union escalated into the Elaine Massacre, the deadliest racial confrontation in Arkansas history.
  • The Battle of Blair Mountain, which took place in West Virginia in 1921, was the largest labor uprising in American history.