High-profile trucking advocacy organizations pushed back against Pres. Joe Biden’s recent nomination for U.S. Secretary of Labor. It appears former Secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency Julie Su was instrumental in passing the notorious AB5 law that effectively banned owner-operators in the Golden State.
“Julie is the American dream,” Pres. Biden reportedly said. “She’s committed to making sure that dream is in reach for every American.”
Leaders of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) sent a letter to Vermont Sen Bernie Sanders and Sen. Bill Cassidy questioning the appropriateness of Su’s nomination. The pair of politicians hold sway over the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions.
“AB 5 is designed to strip independent drivers of their choice and right to operate as contractors for motor carriers, in essence forcing them to become company employee drivers,” ATA President Chris Spear reportedly stated. “It is wreaking havoc on thousands of self-employed, small business owners by forcing them into legal limbo and placing administrative, compliance, legal and other unsustainable costs on the industry.”
Su, a civil rights attorney and former head of California’s labor department, comes to the position with a vastly different right-to-work mindset than independent truckers. She has taken positions that insist a self-employment is a form of wage theft. If confirmed, she would enjoy significant discretion in how national labor standards are enforced across the freight transportation sector. That power is why the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) blasted her nomination.
“Having served as the former Secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, she helped pass AB5, forcing thousands of self-employed, owner-operators to weigh leaving the state or industry altogether, or giving up their hard-earned small businesses to become employee drivers,” the TCA stated. “If Ms. Su is confirmed as Labor Secretary, she will have considerable control over the agency’s enactment of a similar policy at the federal level.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), an organization that fought AB5 to the U.S. Supreme Court, called on Sens. Sander Cassidy to “reject her nomination in order to protect the livelihoods and careers of the hard-working truckers we represent.”
In related news, Truckers Integral to Our Economy recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to persuade members of Congress that the relationship between independent truckers and freight carriers remains an integral part of the industry. By contrast, Pres. Biden has pledged to be the “most pro-union president leading the most pro-union administration in American history.” The Teamsters Union supported AB5 while owner-operators fought for an exemption.
Sources:
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/bidens-vow-union-president-tested-first-year-rcna12791
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