Trump Courted Blue-Collar Workers. Will His Policies Favor Them?

Summary

WSJ What’s News: "Trump Courted Blue-Collar Workers. Will His Policies Favor Them?"

Release Date: November 22, 2024

In this episode of WSJ What’s News, hosted by Kate Bullivant, The Wall Street Journal delves into former President Donald Trump's recent political maneuvers aimed at solidifying his support among blue-collar workers. The discussion centers on Trump's nomination of Pam Bondi as Attorney General, the shifting dynamics within the Republican Party regarding labor policies, and the potential impact of these changes on the working class.

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Trump’s Appointment of Pam Bondi as Attorney General

The episode opens with Trump’s strategic appointment of Pam Bondi to lead the Justice Department. Following the withdrawal of Matt Gaetz amid sexual misconduct allegations, Bondi emerges as a more conventional and loyal ally.

Key Points:

• Selection Rationale: Bondi’s extensive experience as Florida’s former Attorney General and her history as a line prosecutor make her a favorable candidate for Senate confirmation.
• Loyalty to Trump: Journalist Sadie Gurman highlights Bondi’s unwavering support, noting, “She is somebody who is extremely loyal to Trump and has signaled in a variety of ways that she is 100% on board with his agenda” (01:25).

Trump’s Focus on the Working Class

Trump has made significant inroads with blue-collar workers, a demographic traditionally aligned with the Democratic Party. This shift raises questions about how his administration will address the needs and concerns of these voters through policy.

Key Points:

• Campaign Strategy: Trump’s aggressive courting of union members has been pivotal in attracting working-class voters away from Democrats.
• Policy Implications: The administration faces the challenge of aligning these new voter bases with the Republican Party’s historically low-tax, minimal-intervention stance.

Internal GOP Dynamics on Labor Policy

Paul Kiernan, a Journal reporter, provides insights into the emerging "new right" within the GOP, led by figures like JD Vance, and their more favorable stance towards labor unions compared to traditional Republican positions.

Key Points:

• Legislative Actions: Senators aligned with Trump, including Marco Rubio, Josh Hawley, and JD Vance, co-sponsored a 2023 bill aimed at improving railroad worker safety following a major derailment in Ohio (07:09).
• Union Relations: Unlike the traditional GOP, these new right figures are less skeptical of unions. Rubio’s support for unionization at an Amazon warehouse in 2021 exemplifies this shift.
• Technological Skepticism: This faction also exhibits skepticism towards big tech companies, adding another layer to their policy platform (07:52).

Potential Labor Policy Proposals Under Trump

While detailed labor policies from Trump remain sparse, indications suggest a blend of traditional Republican and new right approaches, potentially benefiting blue-collar workers.

Key Points:

• Immigration and Trade: Broad plans to restrict immigration and trade continue to be central to Trump’s agenda.
• Non-Compete Agreements: There may be efforts to ban non-compete agreements for low-wage workers, aligning with Biden’s administration goals and supported by the new right.
• Federal Employment Practices: Trump has signaled intentions to increase the ability to fire federal employees, a move opposed by the Federal Employees Labor Union (08:03).

Notable Quote: Paul Kiernan remarks, “The Republicans, for now at least, are the party of the working class. And if they want to remain the party of the working class, they might need to change some of these policy positions” (02:03).

Historical Context and Future Implications

Reflecting on Trump’s first term, the episode examines how his previous labor policies set the stage for current expectations and the potential disconnect with union-backed workers.

Key Points:

• Overtime Pay Rule: The Trump administration lowered the salary threshold for overtime eligibility, potentially excluding 8 million workers from overtime pay (09:45).
• National Labor Relations Board: Appointments to the NLRB during Trump’s tenure were perceived as management-friendly, leading to strained relations with unions.
• Union Anticipations: Labor unions anticipate further challenges to workers' rights under Trump’s leadership, with concerns over the erosion of previously gained benefits (09:39).

Notable Quote: Paul Kiernan explains, “The Republicans, for now at least, are the party of the working class. And if they want to remain the party of the working class, they might need to change some of these policy positions” (02:03).

Conclusion and Future Outlook

The episode concludes by highlighting the ongoing tension within the Republican Party as it attempts to balance traditional economic policies with the evolving needs of blue-collar voters. The outcome of these internal debates will significantly shape the future of labor policies and the party’s relationship with the working class.

Final Insights:

• Policy Evolution: The Republican Party may need to adapt its platform to sustain support from the working class.
• Union Influence: Increasing cooperation with labor unions could redefine GOP strategies moving forward.
• Economic Impacts: Potential shifts in labor policy will have broad implications for workers, businesses, and the overall economy.

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Additional News Highlights:

• Huawei’s Technological Advances: Despite US sanctions, Huawei is set to release advanced domestically made phone chips, posing a competitive threat to Apple in China (04:23).
• DirecTV-Dish Merger Collapse: DirecTV has withdrawn from its proposed merger with Dish Network following objections from over $10 billion in bondholders (05:06).

For a comprehensive understanding of how Trump’s policies will affect blue-collar workers and the broader implications for the Republican Party, tune into the full episode of WSJ What’s News.

Transcript

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[Kate Bullivant]

Donald Trump picks Pam Bondi to lead the Justice Department after a botched first AG nomination. Plus, Trump made big gains among blue collar workers. We'll take a look at how his campaign trail promises might translate into policy.

[Paul Kiernan]

The Republicans, for now at least, are the party of the working class, and if they want to remain the party of the working class, they might need to change some of these policy positions.

[Kate Bullivant]

And Huawei makes strides in chip technology and threatens the iPhone in China. It's Friday, November 22nd. I'm Kate Bullivant for the Wall Street Journal, filling in for Luke Vargas. And here is the AM Edition of what's the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. Donald Trump has chosen former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to run the Justice Department just hours after Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for the role under a cloud of sexual misconduct allegations. By selecting Bondi, Journal reporter Sadie Gurman says Trump has chosen a close ally who presents a more conventional choice than Gaetz.

[Sadie Gurman]

Her background experience as Florida's former attorney general and somebody who's worked as a line prosecutor for years might make her more appealing to senators who have to confirm her. But at the same time, she is somebody who is extremely loyal to Trump and has signaled in a variety of ways that she is 100% on board with his agenda. We saw her taking a more prominent role in the campaign as it neared its end, making several appearances at campaign rallies in November. And she is somebody who's been with him, including during his first impeachment. And in fact, she was considered as a possibility for attorney general when Trump was president, the first time.

[Kate Bullivant]

Selecting an attorney general has been Trump's top personal priority as he looks to bring the Justice Department, which he has clashed with for years as it investigated him and his allies, under close presidential control. And as Trump continues to make his Cabinet picks, we're exclusively reporting that he's floated the idea of nominating financier Kevin Walsh as his treasury secretary. The idea comes with the understanding that Walsh could later be nominated to lead the Federal reserve when Jerome Powell's term ends in 2020. The president elect is also thinking about appointing investor Scott Besant to lead the National Economic Council, with an eye toward nominating him as treasury secretary later if Walsh becomes Fed chair. Walsh, whom Trump had considered to lead the Fed during his first term, has previously spoken out against protectionist trade policies, according to a person familiar with the matter. Trump asked Walsh about his past stance on tariffs during a meeting this week. Representatives for Besant, Walsh and Trump's transition team didn't respond to requests for comment. The Biden administration plans to add 29 Chinese companies to a trade blacklist today over their alleged links to forced labour in the country's Xinjiang region. It's the largest ever expansion of the so called entity list that took effect in 2022, bringing the number of companies on it to more than 100. Most of the newly banned companies are in the agricultural sector, though some come from other industries, including min and smelting. China has denied accusations of human rights abuses and has said the US Law interferes in its internal affairs and despite American sanctions, China's Huawei continues to advance its semiconductor technology. According to our reporting, the company is set to roll out its most advanced domestically made phone chip to date when a new series of devices goes on sale next week. Huawei hasn't given details of the phone's features or the chips inside them, an area of interest for US Policymakers who have tried to hold back Huawei's technology and Journal reporter Lisa Lin told us. The new chips are also a concern for Apple, which has been losing ground in China.

[Lisa Lin]

Huawei had always been a big contender in China's smartphone market, but when export controls got slapped on Huawei, it was unable to procure the smartphone chips needed for cutting edge smartphones. And because of that, there was a gap of a couple of years when it stopped releasing premium smartphones. And that meant that Apple had a lot of space to claw ahead in the Chinese smartphone market. What happened last September was Huawei surprised the market by unveiling three smartphones with the same sort of cutting edge abilities that you see with the most advanced iPhone handsets these days. And partly due to nationalistic buying and partly due to the merits of the Huawei phone itself, Huawei managed to get market share back from Apple.

[Kate Bullivant]

And in news that market watchers will have their eye on today, DirecTV has decided to walk away from its proposed merger with rival Dish Network. The decision came after rebuke from bondholders representing more than $10 billion of debt in Dish and a subsidiary. The Tie up, which the two satellite TV companies have attempted several times, was dependent on the creditor's approval, and the dollar is strengthening against the euro and the British pound. After disappointing purchasing managers, indexes pointed to economic weakness in Europe. US PMI surveys are due at 9:45am Eastern. Coming up, Donald Trump is called to confront a fight over labour policy unfolding within the Republican Party. What could that mean for workers? We'll look at that after the break.

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[Kate Bullivant]

Donald Trump has drawn swathes of working class voters away from Democrats, reaping the rewards of a campaign strategy in which he aggressively courted union members. Now the Journal's Paul Kiernan reports his incoming administration faces the question of how to reconcile that new reality with the Republican Party's traditional stance, which favors low taxes and minimal intervention and is generally hostile towards unions. Paul joins me now from Washington. Paul, you write about this self proclaimed new right that's challenging the sort of classic GOP approach and led by JD Vance. Where do they stand on labour policy?

[Paul Kiernan]

Yeah. There's also a number of Republican senators who are aligned with Trump. So those include Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Josh Hawley, and finally Vance. All three of them co sponsored a bill in 2023 that aimed to improve safety for railroad workers following this big train derailment in Ohio. And Marco Rubio, who's now expected to be Trump's nominee for secretary of state, backed a unionization push@an Amazon.com warehouse in 2021. And it's not exactly clear how far they want to go, how interventionist they want to be. But in general, they're less skeptical of unions than the Republican Party has traditionally been. And a lot of these Republicans who are aligned with the new right are also kind of skeptical of big Tech.

[Kate Bullivant]

Do we know what Trump's labor policies might include at this stage and how much traction the ideas championed by this new right wing you've just described might gain?

[Paul Kiernan]

So far, Trump has not provided a lot of detail on the labor policies that he might pursue beyond his broader plans to restrict immigration and trade. Depending on who he picks for labor secretary, there could be other things on the menu, like continuing to pursue the Biden administration's goal of banning non compete agreements for low wage workers, which in recent years it's come to light that businesses, including fast food chains, have made their low wage employees sign no poach agreements that eliminate their ability to go work at franchises that might pay higher wages. So that's an example of a labor policy that the U.S. chamber of Commerce sued to overturn, but that some of These new right figures would say, actually, that's a good idea, sort of more narrowly, Trump has signaled that he wants to be able to fire more federal government employees. So that's something that obviously the Federal Employees Labor Union is very upset about that and will fight that. You know, there's legal impediments. A lot of this stuff is going to be challenged in court, and it's unclear how far it will go. But there was this famous interview with Elon Musk before the election in which he kind of praised Elon Musk for firing workers who go on strike. There was another appearance at a rally when he said that when he was in business, he used to hate giving overtime. He'd do anything he could to avoid paying overtime. Trump's critics will tell you that that shows how he thinks about these issues. But the reality is that the Republicans, for now at least, are the party of the working class. And if they want to remain the party of the working class, they might need to change some of these policy positions.

[Kate Bullivant]

Paul, remind us what Trump's approach to labor looked like during his first term. Are there any clues there?

[Paul Kiernan]

He largely stuck to the Republican Party's established positions toward labor and especially organized labor, with the exception of his immigration and trade policies. So, for instance, his Labor Department finalized a rule that set the salary threshold at which workers automatically become eligible for overtime pay lower than the level that the Obama administration had sought. And so labor advocates complained that this would effectively make about 8 million workers ineligible for overtime under the Trump rule. And the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees union elections and stands between workers and companies, Trump appointed key officials who had either been lawyers for company management or kind of traditional Republican functionaries. And so labor unions complained that Trump's National Labor Relations Board was unfriendly to unions, that it tended to side with management. And union officials say that they anticipate that Trump is going to attack the working class and that it's in the words of the spokesman for the AFL cio, it's going to be a rude awakening for a lot of these blue collar people who wanted to take Trump at his word and voted for him and thought that he was going to make their lives better.

[Kate Bullivant]

That was Journal reporter Paul Kiernan. Paul, thanks so much for your time.

[Paul Kiernan]

Yeah, thanks, Kate.

[Kate Bullivant]

Well, speaking of Trump's campaign promises, we'd like to know your questions about how they might be implemented and what they mean for you to weigh in. Send us a voice memo to wnpodsj.com or leave a voicemail with your name and location at 221-241-64328. We might just use it on the show. And that's it for what's news for Friday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach with supervising producer Christina Rorke. And I'm Kate Bullivant for the Wall Street Journal filling in for Luke Vargas. We'll be back tonight with a new show, and until then, have a great weekend, and thanks for listening.