Labor’s Troubles

When they passed legislation mandating their own compliance with federal labor laws in the first hundred days of the congressional term, Republican leaders already knew that in the next hundred they would begin the systematic dismantling of federal labor law. It’s surprising that neither the media nor Democratic party officials called them on this. They need only have glanced at the record of officials who preside over the committees that oversee labor law, who range in their union-friendly voting record from a mere 7 percent for Representative Harris Fawell of Illinois (whose subcommittee has jurisdiction over health and pension issues) to a whopping 27 percent for Representative William Goodling of Pennsylvania, chair of the Economic and Educational Opportunities Committee.

The Republicans moved swiftly to implement their agenda, which includes repeal of Davis- Bacon—legislation that for six decades has guaranteed that building-trades wages on federal or federally a...