Ethics waivers are latest example of union playbook to push radical agenda

Washington, D.C. – The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), composed of hundreds of organizations representing millions of businesses that employ tens of millions of workers nationwide in nearly every industry, released the following statement today in response to reports of multiple high-ranking ex-union employees receiving ethics waivers from the White House to communicate with their former large union employers.

The following statement is attributable to CDW Chair Kristen Swearingen:

“President Biden promised the American people and even signed executive orders on Day 1 declaring his administration would be held to the highest ethical standard, yet these ethics waivers are a formal invitation for collusion and corruption enabling Big Labor bosses with unfettered access to coordinate their deceptive campaign to push through their radical labor agenda like the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.

“It’s really shocking that President Biden would allow this unethical action to be taken and one has to question if he is even aware of these waivers which will likely open the door to misbehavior and wrongdoings that could result in unnecessary scrutiny and even month long corruption investigations that has plagued previous administrations.

“Time after time we have seen unions try to change the rules in their favor to advance their interests. They’re using the same playbook with their push for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, legislation that would strip workers of important privacy protections, subject employees to unwanted union intimidation, and lead to massive job losses and closures of thousands of small businesses across the country.

“At a time when businesses are struggling to keep their doors open and employees retained during the COVID-19 pandemic, rewriting our nation’s labor laws solely to benefit Big Labor bosses would cause irreparable harm to our country’s economic recovery efforts.”

Click here for more information on the negative impacts of the PRO Act.

 

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About The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace

CDW is a broad-based coalition of hundreds of organizations representing hundreds of thousands of employers and millions of employees in various industries across the country concerned with a long-standing effort by some in the labor movement to make radical changes to the National Labor Relations Act without regard to the severely negative impact they would have on employees, employers, and the economy. CDW was originally formed in 2005 in opposition to the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) – a bill similar to the PRO Act – that would have stripped employees of the right to secret ballots in union representation elections and allowed arbitrators to set contract terms regardless of the consequence to workers or businesses.

 

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