10 Union-Friendly Laws Targeted as Regulation Hit List Grows

America’s largest business lobby group has identified what it calls the 10 worst labor-organizing policies adopted by the Obama administration, hoping to sap power from unions as Donald Trump promises a massive regulatory overhaul.

During Barack Obama’s eight years in power, the National Labor Relations Board introduced a raft of measures designed to allow workers to more easily form unions and negotiate collectively.

The board’s “flawed interpretation” of federal labor laws led to “massive regulatory overreach that favored unions at all costs”, according to Glenn Spicer, vice-president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Workforce Freedom Initiative.

The five-member labor board currently has two vacancies, which are expected to be filled shortly by Trump. When he does, it will be the first time the board has had a Republican majority for nine years.

The 10 policies targeted by the Chamber include one that permits the authorization of “micro unions” comprised of small groups of employees. It also wants rules scrapped that expose businesses to so-called joint-employer liability for workplaces they don’t control.

Other notable issues are “ambush” election rules that allow workers to form a union in as few as 10 days and rules that block class action waivers in arbitration agreements. The full list can be viewed here.

The Chamber isn’t the first lobby group to offer the White House help weeding out overbearing regulations. Last week, CEO peer group Business Roundtable recommended 16 for the chopping block, including generous overtime pay requirements, CEO pay-ratio disclosure rules and restrictions on coal-fired power plant construction.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who is the Business Roundtable’s chairman, told the bank’s investors recently that he was confident regulatory relaxation would boost the economy, including by freeing up construction markets.

“Do you know that this country hasn’t built an airport for 40 years?” he asked. “We haven’t put a tunnel or a bridge in New York City for I think maybe even longer than that. You hear the horror stories of how long it takes to build a highway, a road, a grid, a tunnel, an airport.”