GOP Removes "Labor" And Inserts "Workforce" in House Committee Name

AFL/CIO President Richard Trumka

Showing Their Desperation, Labor Officials Are In A Panic Over House Committee Name Change.

 

The Republican Majority's decision to drop “labor” from the name of the House Education and Labor Committee and change it to the House Education and the Workforce Committee shows that a new boss is in town, and one unions believe will not be friendly to unions.

The move is being interpreted by union officials as an attack on unions and will hamper their efforts to pressure the Obama administration on workplace laws and regulations. Bill Samuel, the AFL-CIO’s director of government affairs said “It really does mean something, More than the rhetoric, they have a different agenda.”

“We basically think this name change is symbolic of the new majority’s hostility toward the rights of everyday working Americans,” said Chuck Loveless, director of legislation at the American Federation of County, State and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). 

As you can see by the rhetoric, unions are in a tizzy over a simple name change that does nothing more than include all working men and women and not just those that belong to unions. Alexa Marrero, a spokeswoman for the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said the union officials’ claim that the name change reflected hostility toward workers is “bizarre,” since union members are part of the workforce. Read More

The Committee's basic jurisdiction is over education and workforce matters generally. While Congress has been concerned over education and workforce issues since its beginning, attempts to create a Committee with jurisdiction over education and labor failed in early Congresses due to Representatives' concern over the constitutional grounds for such a federal role.

Committee History

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