On Friday, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he has selected U.S. Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a Republican from Oregon who lost her reelection bid earlier this month, to head the Labor Department.
Several trade and public safety unions in her district supported Chavez-DeRemer, who was serving out her first term as the representative for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District. The major public sector unions backed her defeated opponent, state lawmaker Janelle Bynum.
In addition to managing the Labor Department’s workforce and budget, Chavez-DeRemer would set priorities that affect workers’ rights to health, safety, and unionization, as well as employers’ power to terminate workers.
The Labor Department will be able to bring Americans from all walks of life together behind our Agenda for Unprecedented National Success—Making America Richer, Wealthier, Stronger, and More Prosperous than ever before—thanks to Lori’s strong support from the business and labor sectors. Trump stated in a press release.
In a social media message, Chavez-DeRemer thanked the president for the chance.
In response to Trump, she tweeted, “You have finally provided working-class Americans with a lifeline in the White House.” It’s time to boost our economy to new heights and ensure that all industrious Americans have a successful future.
According to Chavez-DeRemer, her father belonged to the Teamsters union. She has bragged about her support for apprenticeship programs and unions during contract talks. According to the Oregon Capital Chronicle, she was the sole Republican to vote against a bill that would limit which labor disputes are heard by the National Labor Relations Board and one of only three Republicans to cosponsor a Democratic initiative that would increase employee rights to bargain and organize.
At a Chavez-DeRemer campaign rally in October, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, stated, “She has more labor union endorsements than any Republican I’ve ever seen in my life.”
However, during the campaign, some Democrats and union officials accused Chavez-DeRemer of having a shallow support for labor and criticized her for skipping anti-union gatherings where she could have defended unions from Republican attacks.
The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 701, which represents almost 4,000 heavy equipment operators and engineers in Oregon and southwest Washington, has Jimbo Anderson as its business manager and financial secretary. Anderson stated on Thursday that he believes Chavez-DeRemer would be an excellent labor secretary.
Anderson is optimistic that Chavez-DeRemer would contribute to government labor support becoming more consistent. According to the administration, labor support tends to swing in two directions: Republicans tend to support big business, while Democrats prefer to support labor unions, he said.
According to Anderson, Americans would benefit if politicians from both parties could support working people while allowing businesses to profit. He believes that Chavez-DeRemer is knowledgeable about both sides of labor disputes.
“I genuinely think that if Trump is as intelligent as everyone believes he is, he would be crazy not to hire her if he is claiming to want to support labor and care for the working people,” Anderson added.
— Sami Edge writes for The Oregonian on politics and higher education. She may be contacted at (503) 260-3430 or [email protected].
This report was contributed to by the Associated Press.
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