Yes: Rolling back rules has helped economy bloom

Glenn Spencer

As Labor Day dawns, the American economy is in good health. Unemployment remains under 4 percent, more than 2.4 million jobs have been created since Labor Day last year, and GDP has expanded briskly. While there are many factors responsible for our current state of affairs, regulatory reform must be included on the list.

This has been particularly true in the area of labor law. Take, for example, the Department of Labor.

During the previous administration, there was a general tone implying that businesses were bad actors. An entire strategy was built around shaming employers and attempting to punish them even before allegations were fully adjudicated.

Under the Trump administration, this attitude has changed.

First, the department repealed two Obama-era guidance documents from the Wage and Hour Division: one that held businesses at fault for workplaces they don’t own or manage, and another that sought to limit strictly the use of independent contractors.

The Labor Department also withdrew an Occupational Safety and Health Administration policy that allowed union organizers to accompany government officials on inspections of non-union worksites. It also repealed the “persuader rule,” which sought to prevent employers from getting confidential legal advice regarding unions.

While these are just a few examples, it is clear that the Labor Department is now emphasizing a common-sense approach to regulation and enforcement.

One can also look at the National Labor Relations Board, where the new majority has taken important steps to restore balance to labor law. The board is reviewing the Purple Communications decision, an Obamaera ruling that could essentially take away an employer’s ability to control his or her own e-mail systems. It has already overturned the Specialty Healthcare ruling that allowed unions to form small, fractured bargaining units, even in workplaces where a majority of employees have rejected unionization.

In addition, the NLRB has done away with the Obama-era policy of scrutinizing employee handbooks, under which the board could create laborlaw violations out of commonplace and common-sense handbook policies. These included, for example, requiring courtesy in the workplace. Somehow the previous administration considered requiring professional behavior at work against the law.

These positive trends have unleashed new growth and opportunities for nearly all sectors of the economy, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urges Congress and the administration to continue to enact progrowth policies and effective regulatory reform.

However, a few clouds remain on the horizon, as illustrated by legislation recently introduced by Senate Democrats that would undermine the strong economic growth we are now seeing.

These bills, given benevolent-sounding titles like the Workplace Democracy Act and the Workers’ Freedom to Negotiate Act, would eliminate right-to-work laws in 27 states, once again forcing employees to pay union dues or lose their jobs. Both bills would strip away the democratic protections of a secret ballot during union organizing elections, exposing workers to coercion and intimidation.

They would impose mandatory, binding arbitration for first contracts — potentially sticking workers and employers with unworkable contract terms.

And most damaging, they would repeal the ban on secondary boycotts, meaning that a labor dispute with a single company could suddenly involve dozens of other businesses, giving unions a license to shut down entire segments of the economy.

While these bills will not be going anywhere in the current Congress, these radical proposals must not be ignored.

This administration deserves credit for giving businesses new opportunities, which have allowed our economy to prosper. Given the right circumstances, and continued regulatory reform, it should continue to do so.