US labor watchdogs rush to enshrine worker protections as Biden’s term winds down

In before EOD… Labor officials are working overtime to push through workplace protections before time runs out on the Biden admin, which some say has been the most pro-worker administration since FDR. Last week, the National Labor Relations Board, a gov’t agency that enforces worker rights, ruled that companies can’t make employees attend meetings about the downsides of unionization. The “captive audience” meetings have been legal for nearly 80 years. FYI: Amazon is said to have held hundreds of them ahead of a 2022 unionization vote. The move is one of several on President Biden’s outgoing pro-labor docket.

• Under the wire: The NLRB reversed a 40-year precedent this month, ruling that employers can’t say unionizing hurts worker-management relationships. Union-friendly rulings on gig workers and Amazon employees are also expected.

• Term squirm: Dems are rushing to reconfirm the board’s chair to cement a liberal majority through 2026. But some experts think President-elect Trump will buck precedent and fire all Democratic NLRB members.

What’s next?... Trump’s POV on labor has been all over the place. On the campaign trail he vowed to exclude worker tips from federal taxes and to support legislation ending taxes on overtime pay. But he recently praised Elon Musk, suggesting the world’s richest person fired striking workers. Plus, his first term was largely seen as pro-employer. Labor experts expect Trump to narrow eligibility for overtime pay, delay workplace heat-safety rules, and reverse a ban on non-disparagement clauses in severance agreements.