LaborUnionNews.com's Labor Relations Radio

<p>In the last week alone, the Trump administration has effectively shuttered the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, ended collective bargaining for hundreds of thousands of federal workers, two separate lawsuits filed against government unions, and union lawsuits filed against the Trump administration, as well as the re-hiring and re-firing of NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox.</p><p>To say that it’s a lot to take in would be an understatement.</p><p>In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, returning guest Alex MacDonald from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.littler.com/innovation/workplace-policy-institute">Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute</a> joins host Peter List to help break all of it down.</p><p><strong>Follow Alex MacDonald on LinkedIn </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-macdonald-b11400148/"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p><strong>Follow Alex MacDonald’s writings at the Federalist Society </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://fedsoc.org/contributors/alexander-macdonald-1"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p><strong>Other episodes with Alex MacDonald:</strong></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://laborunionnews.substack.com/p/labor-relations-radio-e161wpis-alex"><strong>Labor Relations Radio, E161—WPI's Alex MacDonald On The Legal Theory Behind The Firing Of NLRB Member Wilcox</strong></a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://laborunionnews.substack.com/p/labor-relations-radio-e149-an-accidental?utm_source=publication-search"><strong>Labor Relations Radio, E149: An Accidental Outcome? Alex MacDonald returns to discuss how the NLRA's success has resulted in fewer unions & what might happen under a new administration in DC.</strong></a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://laborunionnews.substack.com/p/labor-relations-radio-e144alex-macdonald?utm_source=publication-search"><strong>Labor Relations Radio E144—Alex MacDonald Explains How Unions' Right to"Exclusive Representation" May Be Unconstitutional</strong></a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://laborunionnews.substack.com/p/labor-relations-radio-e138attorney?utm_source=publication-search"><strong>Labor Relations Radio E138 — Attorney Alex MacDonald On The Constitutionality Of 'Exclusive Representation'</strong></a></p><p><p>LaborUnionNews.com's Labor Relations Radio is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support our work, become a subscriber.</p></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://laborunionnews.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">laborunionnews.substack.com/subscribe</a>

<p><p><strong>Share this episode of Labor Relations Radio with your colleagues.</strong></p></p><p>Kim Kavin, a freelance writer and editor, co-founder of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/fightforfreelancersusa">Fight for Freelancers USA</a>, and publisher of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.freelancebusting.com/">FreelanceBusting.com</a>, returns to the podcast to discuss the latest happenings in the War on the Gig Economy.</p><p>In this episode Kim discusses what is transpiring at the federal and state levels with respect to the efforts to fight for Americans’ right to choose how to earn a living, as well as the efforts to destroy that right.</p><p>Read more about the fight against freelance busting at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.freelancebusting.com/">FreelanceBusting.com</a></p><p><p>LaborUnionNews.com's Labor Relations Radio is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support our work, become a subscriber.</p></p><p></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://laborunionnews.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">laborunionnews.substack.com/subscribe</a>

<p><p><strong>Share this episode of Labor Relations Radio with your colleagues.</strong></p></p><p><p><strong><em>If the workers surrender control over working relations to legislative and administrative agents, they put their industrial liberty at the disposal of state agents</em></strong><em>. — Samuel Gompers, 1915</em></p></p><p>On Tuesday, Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO), as well as Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) <a target="_blank" href="https://www.merkley.senate.gov/new-hawley-merkley-legislation-to-speed-up-labor-contracts-earns-teamsters-endorsement-bipartisan-support/">introduced</a> the <a target="_blank" href="https://app.getresponse.com/click.html?x=a62b&#38;co=BLraId&#38;lc=hDLFNl&#38;mc=IQ&#38;s=GQHxIO&#38;u=oQXO&#38;z=EwO7Bfp&#38;"><strong>Faster Labor Contracts Act</strong></a>—a bill that is <a target="_blank" href="https://teamster.org/2025/03/teamsters-support-faster-labor-contracts-act/">endorsed by the Teamsters</a>, which would put federally-mandated arbitrators in the position of dictating first-time labor contracts onto employers, employees, and unions. </p><p>The Faster Labor Contracts Act would:</p><p>* Amend the <em>National Labor Relations Act</em> to require that after workers have voted to form a union, employers must begin negotiating with the new union within 10 days.</p><p>* Provide that if no agreement is reached within 90 days, the dispute will be referred to mediation.</p><p>* Stipulate that if mediation fails within 30 days, or additional periods agreed upon by the parties, the <strong>dispute will be referred to binding arbitration to secure an initial contract</strong> (view more details of this provision in highlights <a target="_blank" href="https://www.scribd.com/document/835359295/Faster-Labor-Contracts-Act">here</a>).</p><p>* Commission a Government Accountability Office report on average workplace time-to-contract one year after enactment.</p><p><strong>Read the full highlighted bill </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://www.scribd.com/document/835359295/Faster-Labor-Contracts-Act"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p>“The Faster Labor Contracts Act is a massive expansion of the federal government’s authority over the private sector,” <a target="_blank" href="https://myprivateballot.com/2025/03/04/cdw-opposes-legislation-imposing-government-interference-into-private-sector-contracts/">noted</a> Kristen Swearingen, spoksperson for the Coalition for Democratic Workplace. “It would allow government bureaucrats to dictate the employment terms of workers via mandatory, binding arbitration, meaning they can set the workers’ wages, benefits, workplace safety standards, pensions, and so on with no oversight by the workers, employers, unions, or even the judicial branch.”</p><p>In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, returning guest Alex MacDonald, Co-Chair of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.littler.com/innovation/workplace-policy-institute">Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute</a>, joins host Peter List to discuss the ramifications of this bill if it becomes law.</p><p><strong>Follow Alex MacDonald on LinkedIn </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-macdonald-b11400148/"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p><strong>Follow Alex MacDonald’s writings at the Federalist Society </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://fedsoc.org/contributors/alexander-macdonald-1"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p><strong>Prior Labor Relations Radio episodes with Alex MacDonald:</strong></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://laborunionnews.substack.com/p/labor-relations-radio-e161wpis-alex"><strong>Labor Relations Radio, E161—WPI's Alex MacDonald On The Legal Theory Behind The Firing Of NLRB Member Wilcox</strong></a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://laborunionnews.substack.com/p/labor-relations-radio-e149-an-accidental?utm_source=publication-search"><strong>Labor Relations Radio, E149: An Accidental Outcome? Alex MacDonald returns to discuss how the NLRA's success has resulted in fewer unions & what might happen under a new administration in DC.</strong></a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://laborunionnews.substack.com/p/labor-relations-radio-e144alex-macdonald?utm_source=publication-search"><strong>Labor Relations Radio E144—Alex MacDonald Explains How Unions' Right to"Exclusive Representation" May Be Unconstitutional</strong></a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://laborunionnews.substack.com/p/labor-relations-radio-e138attorney?utm_source=publication-search"><strong>Labor Relations Radio E138 — Attorney Alex MacDonald On The Constitutionality Of 'Exclusive Representation'</strong></a></p><p><p>LaborUnionNews.com's Labor Relations Radio is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support our work, become a subscriber.</p></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://laborunionnews.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">laborunionnews.substack.com/subscribe</a>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://jamesobrien.com/">James F. O’Brien</a> is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley and has written about how the coming AI job apocalypse necessitates the need to look at alternative means of revenue, including taxing AI, to avoid mass societal disruption. </p><p>In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, Professor O’Brien joins host Peter List to discuss how fast AI is moving into our society, the “upstream” and “downstream” effect and what they mean to all of us.</p><p>Related: </p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/impending-ai-driven-jobless-economy-who-will-pay-taxes"><strong>The impending AI-driven jobless economy: Who will pay taxes?</strong></a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://medium.com/towards-data-science/the-end-of-required-work-universal-basic-income-and-ai-driven-prosperity-df7189b371fe"><strong>The End of Required Work: Universal Basic Income and AI-Driven Prosperity</strong></a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careers/musk-predicts-future-without-jobs-due-to-ai-and-proposes-high-universal-income/ar-AA1zVdbr?ocid=BingNewsVerp"><strong>Musk predicts future without jobs due to AI and proposes high universal income</strong></a></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://laborunionnews.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">laborunionnews.substack.com/subscribe</a>

<p>A lot is going on in Washington, DC these days. In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-swearingen-8269626/overlay/about-this-profile/">Kristen Swearingen</a> Vice President, Legislative & Political Affairs at the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.abc.org/">Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc.</a> and spokesperson for the <a target="_blank" href="https://myprivateballot.com/">Coalition for a Democratic Workplace</a> joins host Peter List to discuss some of the issues, including the re-introduction of the PRO Act, Sen. Josh Hawley’s “PRO Act-Lite” framework, as well as President Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer.</p><p><p>LaborUnionNews.com's Labor Relations Radio is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support our work, become a subscriber.</p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://laborunionnews.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">laborunionnews.substack.com/subscribe</a>