[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 151 (Tuesday, September 16, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H4352-H4356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1810
TRUMP'S LABOR AGENDA: UNSAFE AND UNDERPAID
(Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mrs. McIver
of New Jersey was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the
minority leader.)
General Leave
Mrs. McIVER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include material on the subject of my Special Order hour into the
Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Onder). Is there objection to the
request of the gentlewoman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mrs. McIVER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of our Nation's
workers, to give voice to their fear, their concerns, and their anger.
While the American people are
focusing on putting food on their
tables, the Labor Department has quietly dismantled
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On September 16, 2025, page H4352, in the second column,
the following appeared:
ing on putting food on their tables, the
Labor Department has finally disman-
The online version has been corrected to read:
ing on putting food on their tables, the
Labor Department has quietly disman-
========================= END NOTE =========================
decades of hard-
fought protections for our communities. These rollbacks are not just
isolated attempts. They are part of a broader, calculated effort to
weaken the rights, safety, and dignity of America's workers in the
hopes that no one would notice.
But guess what, Mr. Speaker?
We have noticed. We will not let them get away with it.
My colleagues and I have demanded the Labor Secretary end these
attacks on working people and their families. If the Secretary will not
act, we will take matters into our own hands. That is why we are here
tonight, to bring these actions to light and to show the American
people exactly what is at stake.
Tonight, Mr. Speaker, you will hear from my colleagues about the
impact of each of these rollbacks and about the way that our friends,
our neighbors, our coworkers will be hurt by something the
administration is trying to do in the shadows.
Mr. Speaker, you will hear about the specific rules that this
administration has rolled back, rules that put home care aides,
farmhands, construction workers, workers with disabilities, minors, and
so many more at risk. As you hear about these rules, ones that don't
always get a lot of attention but that matter so much to the people
they protect, you will come to the same conclusion, Mr. Speaker, that
we have.
If you work in America today, Mr. Speaker, you are less safe than you
were 1 year ago, and you are more likely to be underpaid, exploited,
and ignored. You are more likely to be hurt on the job, Mr. Speaker,
underrepresented, and left to fend for yourself.
That is unacceptable.
I am proud to have led my colleagues in urging the Secretary of Labor
to immediately reverse course on these actions. As I yield to my
colleagues standing with me tonight, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues
across the aisle to consider:
How many more of these rules do we let the Trump administration get
away with before saying enough is enough?
I hope this convinces them to follow suit.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia
(Mr. Scott), who is the ranking member on the Committee on Education
and Workforce.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for
yielding, and I thank her for organizing this Special Order so we can
discuss the actions of the Department of Labor.
Right now, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are
starting to implement an aggressive deregulatory agenda that harms
workers. Trump's deregulatory agenda weakens workers' civil rights,
undermines worker protections and hard-earned wages, and downgrades the
U.S. economy.
Right now, the Trump administration is in the process of rolling back
labor regulations that do a lot of things, such as promote
nondiscrimination and strengthen the regulations we have. The ones they
are trying to undermine are the regulations that promote
nondiscrimination and strengthen registered apprenticeship standards.
They are rolling those back.
They are rolling back the regulation that prevents the privatization
of State civil services. They are rolling back the regulation that
strengthens fair wage protections for home care workers that would
enable them to keep minimum wage and other protections. They are
rolling that back.
The regulation requiring Federal contractors to pay workers at least
$15 an hour. They are rolling that back. They are rolling back
regulations to create clear and specific requirements for occasions
when employers must require the use of respirators that prevent
exposure to toxic chemicals that can cause cancer and other diseases.
Regulations to bolster labor protections for farmworkers on guest
worker visas; they are rolling those protections back.
The implementation of Federal law requiring affirmative action for
employees and applicants with disabilities, ensuring that they are
hired, retained, and promoted by Federal contractors; they are rolling
that back.
Enforcement of antidiscrimination and affirmative action requirements
that ensure that Federal contractors are for equal employment
opportunities for workers, they are rolling that back.
There are more rollbacks waiting in the wings, because, in fact, the
Labor Department in a draft rule that is sitting in the White House
regulatory office right now would likely weaken the rules that prohibit
children from working in particularly dangerous jobs.
All workers deserve to be paid fairly, earn good benefits, and come
home safely at the end of the day. If we truly want to prioritize
workers, then we
[[Page H4353]]
must strengthen the laws, including regulations that protect workers'
health and safety on the job and that empower workers' ability to form
unions and bargain for their rights.
The Trump administration, instead, is rolling back regulations that
protect workers. We should be doing better.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for organizing this Special
Order and giving us the opportunity to discuss what is going on with
the Department of Labor.
Mrs. McIVER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member, the fine
gentleman from Virginia, for his remarks and for coming here this
evening to talk with us.
Mr. Speaker, home health aides are some of the most essential workers
in our economy, taking care of our parents and grandparents as they age
and ensuring that sick and disabled people can live with dignity.
It is downright despicable that this administration has proposed to
reverse the rule requiring that these vital workers be paid the Federal
minimum wage.
This reckless rollback threatens the dignity, wages, and basic rights
of nearly 4 million of our lowest paid and most essential workers, the
majority of whom are women and women of color.
These care workers are certified nursing assistants, home health
aides, personal care attendants, and direct support professionals. They
provide skilled, often medically necessary care, from administering
medication to helping with daily activities like bathing, dressing, and
eating.
Their work is both physically and emotionally demanding. It is
essential to the health, safety, and independence of nearly 10 million
older adults and people with disabilities who rely on these services to
remain in their homes and communities.
For some, it is the care they receive from these aides that actually
helps them enter or remain in the workforce. It is difficult to capture
the profound impact they have on not only families but our economy.
While they wait for that proposal to go through, the administration
has already announced that they will no longer enforce the care worker
rule, effectively stripping these workers of basic wage protections
without notice, without public comment, and without regard for the
devastating impact this will have on families, caregivers, and our
long-term care system.
Mr. Speaker, I just can't wrap my head around some of these changes.
Home care workers are too valuable. They are already underpaid and
unprotected, with 2 in 5 already living at or near the poverty line.
Nearly one-half rely on public assistance to make it, and now Trump
wants to give the green light to pay these folks less than $7.25. Yes,
I said it, $7.25 an hour.
It is just wrong. It is completely unsustainable. We are already in
the midst of a staffing crisis in the care economy. I know my
colleagues are afraid of the Bureau of Labor Statistics these days, but
BLS says that demand for home care workers will grow by more than 20
percent in the next decade as our population ages.
Mr. Speaker, how are we going to recruit and retain the workforce we
need to take care of our seniors if we don't pay them?
Surely, they can't make it if we don't pay them. They can't stay
employed if we don't pay them.
Mr. Speaker this is not just a labor issue. It is a civil rights
issue. It is a women's right issue. It is a disability issue.
I know this administration is already sick of hearing from me, but
that is too bad. In August, I wrote to the Secretary of Labor urging
her to stop these rollbacks. Today, I want to again call on the
Department of Labor to withdraw this dangerous and disgusting proposed
rule immediately, to reinstate full enforcement of the 2013 rule, and
to focus its efforts where they belong, on improving wages, training,
and conditions for our home care workers.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the fine gentleman from California (Mr.
DeSaulnier) to discuss the conditions for some of our most vulnerable
workers, those with disabilities.
{time} 1820
Mr. DeSAULNIER. Mr. Speaker, first, I thank the gentlewoman from New
Jersey for having this session, for bringing us together to highlight
how the Trump administration is undermining hard-won protections for
workers. I really appreciate the comments and sort of the introduction
to my comments, a community that I have been close to and worked for
diligently for a long time.
This used to be a bipartisan issue. This is an opportunity to discuss
a group of workers who are often overlooked but who are also being very
much hurt by the deregulatory agenda of this administration, workers
with disabilities.
In December, the previous administration, under President Biden's
leadership and the Department of Labor, released a proposed rule that
would phase out, as quickly as possible, subminimum wage certificates
which allow employers to legally pay workers with disabilities below
the Federal minimum wage. This was long, long overdue.
About 38,500 disabled workers earned a subminimum wage in 2024
because of these certificates. Those 38,000 people deserve better, much
better.
In taking action, the Biden Department of Labor spoke for those
workers and pushed for them to have a livable, honorable wage. The
Department noted that opportunities, legal protections, and support for
disabled workers have increased since 1989 when the regulation was last
updated.
However, in July, the Trump Department of Labor decided to undo that
long, long overdue progress that was enacted by the Biden
administration and House and Senate Democrats and instead continued
issuing subminimum wage certificates.
Reminder to people around the country and Californians: The Federal
minimum wage is $7.25. They were being paid below that.
In doing so, this administration is turning back the clock on
disability rights. Multiple States, including the State I live in and
represent, California, have already prohibited subminimum wages for
workers with disabilities. Good for them. These subminimum wage laws
federally have been used to justify paying people just a few cents per
hour for work.
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the National Council on
Disabilities have called for an end to the practice by paying disabled
workers less and paying them what they deserve, at least a minimum
adjustment.
While disabled individuals continue to face challenges in achieving
equal opportunity and treatment, we have made great strides in our
understanding of disability and workplace accommodations.
Paying these American workers less can no longer be justified by any
standard, yet this administration insists on doing it.
Rather than allow employers to continue underpaying disabled workers,
this administration must and should reverse course and respect the
dignity and contributions of these workers.
Again, I thank Representative McIver for coming here and bringing
this to the attention of the American public.
Mrs. McIVER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his remarks and
for joining me this evening.
At this very moment, the Department of Labor is working to rescind
the Farmworker Protection Rule, a Biden-era standard that gave
farmworkers, many of them seasonal workers here under the H-2A visa
program, the basic right to speak up about unsafe working conditions
without fear of being fired or deported.
Let's be clear. This rule that the administration is attacking wasn't
about politics. It wasn't about gangs or drugs or any of the disgusting
tropes the other side will paint against hardworking immigrants. It was
about seatbelts in vans, safety on the job, and the simple human
dignity of not being punished for demanding better conditions.
What has this administration done? They have proposed stripping those
protections, both for transportation safety and for organizing on
farms. While they wait for that change to take effect, they have
announced they will not enforce the 2024 Farmworker Rule at all.
What does that mean in practice? It means workers, including the
300,000 seasonal workers worked for come to
[[Page H4354]]
our country to do vital work, supporting our Nation's agriculture
industry, are once again forced to choose between their safety and
their survival. It means transportation will remain the leading cause
of death for farmworkers, and it means that the worst of the worst
employers get a free pass.
It doesn't stop there. The Trump Department of Labor also wants to
stop coordination between the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour
Division, OSHA, and the Employment and Training Administration on
enforcement of farmworker protections. These agencies are supposed to
work together to stop abuse.
Corrupt recruiters have infiltrated the H-2A program, charging
workers illegal fees and taking advantage of the most desperate migrant
workers and actually facilitating human trafficking.
The administration's answer? Make it harder to investigate them; make
it harder to kick these abusive recruiters out of the H-2A system; and,
against their own promises, let the trafficking continue.
Let's be clear again. The H-2A program is one of the largest sources
of labor trafficking in the United States.
The safety regulations the Department of Labor is going after were
designed to keep workers safe, but Trump's regulatory changes sent a
clear message to employers. Retaliate against your workers, is what the
administration is saying. Trump says: Silence them all you want. No one
is coming to stop you.
This doesn't just hurt migrant farmworkers. It drags down the working
conditions and wages of all agricultural workers in America. Every time
protections are stripped away from one group, it undercuts the baseline
for everyone else.
This is all by design. While this administration is gutting legal
protections, they are slashing transparency, too. The National
Agricultural Statistics Service just announced it will eliminate the
Farm Labor Survey, the very tool we use to understand what farmworkers
are paid and how they are treated. This survey informs wages for H-2A
jobs. Eliminating it makes exploitation easier and accountability
harder.
Mr. Speaker, the cruelty here is not accidental. It is deliberate. It
is rooted in a despicable framework that sees farmworkers, particularly
those from other countries and those that are Black and Brown, as
disposable.
These workers feed America. They feed you every night. They do the
work most people can't and won't.
Instead of protecting them, this administration wants to strip away
their voice and hand power to the very people who exploit them.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Omar) to
discuss the tools available to OSHA to keep Americans safe at work.
{time} 1830
Ms. OMAR. Mr. Speaker, as the ranking member of the Subcommittee on
Workforce Protections, I rise today to speak about the sweeping set of
proposals from Trump's Department of Labor that threatens worker
safety, fair pay, and basic protections for millions of Americans.
The Department is moving to rewrite or repeal more than 60 workplace
regulations. Let me say that again: 60 workplace regulations. It will
affect conditions in farms, factories, construction sites, and mines.
These changes are being framed as modernization. In reality, they put
workers at greater risk and undermine decades of hard-won labor
protections.
Among the most far-reaching proposals is the narrowing of OSHA's
general duty clause, one of the most important tools protecting workers
when no specific safety standard exists. For more than 50 years, the
general duty clause has allowed OSHA to step in when employers expose
workers to recognized hazards that are serious, preventable, and likely
to cause harm.
Under the Trump administration's labor proposal, OSHA will no longer
be able to cite employers for hazardous conditions intrinsic to a job.
That could leave construction workers, factory workers, farmworkers,
and others in high-risk professions with fewer protections and less
accountability when something goes wrong.
The administration's rollbacks go well beyond the general duty
clause. Millions of home healthcare workers could be paid below minimum
wage and denied overtime protections, leaving them vulnerable to long
hours and financial insecurity.
Migrant farmworkers could lose critical safeguards, including
seatbelt requirements on employer-provided transportation and
protections against retaliation for reporting unsafe conditions.
Construction workers could see basic requirements for adequate
lighting eliminated.
Miners could lose critical oversight on ventilation, roof safety, and
training.
Even respiratory and chemical safety standards in hazardous
workplaces are being rolled back.
These changes represent a fundamental shift in priorities, putting
corporate convenience over worker safety. Eliminating all of these
rules is a clear signal from the Trump administration that they view
workers' lives as expendable.
When protections for the most vulnerable workers are stripped away,
the consequences will be severe and immediate.
American workers are not disposable. They deserve workplaces that are
safe, fair, and accountable. They deserve the dignity of protection
that ensures that they can return home from work alive and uninjured.
Congress must reject efforts that roll back the clock on worker
safety and labor rights.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative LaMonica McIver for hosting
tonight and for her leadership on this issue.
Mrs. McIVER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms.
Omar) for joining me tonight and for her remarks.
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to Trump's attacks on the diversity of our
workforce, the Department of Labor is his biggest cheerleader and
superfan. As a matter of fact, they are president of the fan club.
After Trump rescinded the Equal Employment Opportunity executive
order, the Department of Labor proposed to remove the requirement that
those who do business with the Federal Government cannot discriminate
in hiring.
On top of that, Trump is demanding that companies send proof that
they are eliminating their antidiscrimination programs and show proof
that they abandoned affirmative action plans.
Federal contractors may sound to some people like a narrow, far-off
group. Who even are they? In reality, Federal contractors are a massive
segment of our economy, and chances are that you or someone you know
relies on Federal contracts for work.
Under Trump, their employers would no longer be able to even collect
data on the racial, ethnic, and gender makeup of their workforce. Let
me repeat that: The Federal Government is proposing that contractors no
longer even track discrimination.
If you stop collecting the evidence, you can pretend the crime no
longer exists. The result: an older, Whiter, more male-dominated
workforce that doesn't really reflect the diversity of backgrounds that
makes our Nation great.
Let's call it what it is: a calculated, careless, cowardly rollback
of hard-won protections carried out under false pretenses and driven by
an agenda that wants to take us back to 1964.
If that weren't enough, just weeks after the Trump administration
announced its plans to eliminate the Office of Federal Contract
Compliance Programs, the agency charged with enforcing
antidiscrimination in Federal contracting, the Department of Labor has
now launched a full-scale attack on workers with disabilities. It is
shameful.
Trump's DOL is dismantling the requirement that Federal contractors
take steps to employ qualified individuals with disabilities. At a time
when disabled Americans face historic employment gaps, this
administration wants to turn back the clock and undo the progress that
we have made over decades of disability work. As my colleagues have
mentioned, they even want to bring back the cruel, outdated policy of
allowing employers to pay disabled workers less than minimum wage,
often pennies on the dollar. How
[[Page H4355]]
disgusting for someone who is doing the same work as everyone else each
and every day.
My colleagues across the aisle want you to be afraid of Federal DEIA
programs, maybe even to think they are stopping you from getting a job.
In reality, these are things like paid internships, so you don't have
to come from a well-off family to work a Federal job, or basic
disability accommodations in the office, like making sure the office
coffee pot is in reach of someone in a wheelchair.
Are these destroying our workforce like the President says?
These moves are not about fairness. They are about power and about
stripping protections from the most marginalized so that the powerful
can operate without accountability.
We need to be open and honest about the truth. These actions will
increase discrimination in the workforce. They will make us less
productive, not more productive. They will turn the focus of Federal
hiring away from merit.
Some of these rollbacks, Mr. Speaker, are terribly awful, but some of
them seem like they are just torn from a law textbook. Seriously, the
administration wants to get rid of the minimum lighting standards for
construction sites. Let me say that again for the public who may be
watching. This Trump administration wants to get rid of the minimum
requirement for lighting standards for construction sites.
For those of you watching at home, I know that, sometimes, what we do
here is a bit hard to follow, and maybe you don't want to sift through
the jargon that gets thrown around. Let me just read to you the
standard that this administration wants to get rid of. Here is what
Trump wants to take out of the Code of Federal Regulations. It reads as
follows: ``Construction areas, aisles, stairs, ramps, runways,
corridors, offices, shops, and storage areas where work is in progress
shall be lighted with either natural or artificial illumination.''
This gets rid of the requirement for good lighting on construction
sites so that you can't see the nail you are hitting. Who okayed this?
Seriously, let's just think about this for a second. If you are
working on a construction site, under the Trump administration, your
boss does not have to make sure that any electrical equipment rooms,
first aid stations, and the rest of the job site actually have enough
light to allow you to see what you are doing.
We hear all day about the regulations supposedly weighing down our
economy and all about the red tape. Without a doubt--I sit on the
Committee on Small Business--I am happy to talk about red tape, but
these are basic safety standards.
What do I know, right? I am here to represent the people of New
Jersey's 10th Congressional District. I don't work on a construction
site every day. Like me, you may want to know what the experts think.
In 1962, Congress created the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety
and Health to answer just that question.
Mr. Speaker, guess what. The Trump administration fired all the
members of the committee, and OSHA just issued a final rule removing
the requirement that it consult with the committee before modifying or
repealing construction safety regulations. Trump's OSHA doesn't have to
consult the experts because it said so. It is just because they said
so. It is truly unbelievable.
Let's make something clear, Mr. Speaker: The administration's actions
at the Department of Labor aren't just tinkering, and they are not just
some complicated, bureaucratic procedure. They are life-and-death
decisions that, right now, the Department of Labor is rolling back
protections on that generations of miners fought and died for.
Earlier this year, the Department of Labor planned to shutter dozens
of the Mine Safety and Health Administration field offices across the
country. These are the frontline offices that work to keep mines safe
and help to review plans, inspect sites, and make sure someone is there
to look out for workers when lives are on the line.
Eventually, when that plan came to light, the administration changed
course and announced that it would not close the 34 offices it wanted
to. Mr. Speaker, they are now trying to shutter the offices another
way: by gutting the rules that give the Mine Safety and Health
Administration the power to act, even if the offices stay open.
{time} 1840
Let me walk you through just how dangerous these rollbacks are.
One repeal removes the requirement to inspect drilling areas for
hazards before operations begin and gets rid of the need to repair
dangerous drilling equipment.
Another rollback narrows the training protocols that the Mine Safety
and Health Administration district managers can require before
approving mining operations. In fact, Trump wants to limit what can be
required in a roof control and ventilation plan, which would help
protect miners from roof collapses and toxic dust in the air. He wants
to deregulate roofing and necessary ventilation.
Mine operators are no longer required to give workers hard copies of
hazard communications, or HAZCOM. Historically, employers are required
to inform their employees in a mine of what chemicals or hazards they
may face to help prevent injury and illness. Trump and his cronies are
even going after the tools used to measure lighting and visibility
underground, as I mentioned about the construction sites, as well.
As we speak, Trump is working to give more control to mine operators
about their safety and health plans, even when we know that injuries
and deaths will follow.
We know what keeps miners safe, but this administration doesn't think
we should let the Mine Safety and Health Administration require it.
Maybe the most unbelievable decision is the delay of the toxic silica
rule, a rule 40 years in the making.
The science is crystal clear: Silica exposure causes lung cancer,
chronic respiratory disease, black lung, and even death.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration itself had estimated this
rule would prevent more than 1,000 deaths and 3,700 cases of silica-
related illness, but the Trump administration says it is on hold.
What are we talking about here?
Weakening or removing respiratory requirements, fit testing, medical
evaluations, and training for exposure to some of the most dangerous
substances like asbestos, lead, vinyl chloride, and more.
Look, colleagues and Americans watching at home, the administration
says it is too prescriptive to ensure workers don't inhale poisons that
actually kill them. It is too much of a burden to make sure a
respirator actually fits. It is too much red tape to make sure a
worker's lungs can survive the shift.
What do you say?
Let's be clear: Miners and workers didn't ask for these rollbacks.
The only people calling for these changes are the lobbyists and
executives who have never stepped foot inside of a mine, who have never
watched a coworker die in a collapse, who have never buried a friend
with black lung.
Safety cannot be optional. Miners cannot be expendable. Congress
cannot stand idly by while the Labor Department turns on the people it
was created to protect.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms.
Stansbury).
Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I am here tonight to stand union strong
with our workers across America and in solidarity with my sister from
New Jersey, Representative McIver.
We stand union strong, labor strong, America strong, and worker
strong.
Mr. Speaker, I think it is notable, as we stand on this floor
tonight, that there is not a single Republican here to stand with our
workers.
Let's be honest: When my colleagues across the aisle say that they
stand for American manufacturing and American jobs, they don't mean
that they stand with American workers. They are there to stand with the
corporations and the people who line their pockets off of the sweat of
the hardworking men and women who actually do the work in this country.
Unfortunately, as I look around this floor this evening, I don't see
a single one of them standing in solidarity.
Under this administration, we have seen an unprecedented attack on
our unions and worker protections. Protections that keep our workers
safe from
[[Page H4356]]
injury, illness, and death on the job, all to shield employers from
accountability and to increase their profits.
Instead of standing with workers, they weakened rules on overtime,
rolled back safety standards, and gutted protections for wage theft. If
you want any indication where the current President stands on the
Department of Labor and American workers, all you have to do is walk
down the street and you will see a three-story picture, not of the
American worker on the front of the Department of Labor, but of Donald
Trump's face, who spent American taxpayer, hard-earned dollars to put
his face on the Department of Labor, which is the United States agency
that is supposed to demand protections for our workers.
Now, for me this isn't just political. It is personal because I grew
up in a labor family. My mother was a factory seamstress. In fact, she
sewed 79,000 pockets on jeans and tried to organize a garment workers
union at her factory and was fired for trying to demand fair wages for
factory seamstresses like herself and thousands of women and people
across the country who work every day for this country.
She was fired for daring to demand better conditions and higher pay,
but it is her grit and her determination and her belief in the dignity
of workers that I carry with me into this Chamber every day because
even upon her firing for trying to organize as a factory worker, my
mother became one of the first women operating engineers to work on
heavy equipment in the State of New Mexico. That is the spirit I see
all across our State.
Just last week, we stood in solidarity with striking workers and our
Teamsters local at the Creamland Dairy fighting for fair wages and safe
conditions. That solidarity has resulted in a fair wage and a new labor
contract for those workers.
At the University of New Mexico, we stood with graduate students who
were holding work-ins as they demand a fair contract. We stood with
SEIU and our residents in our medical schools who are demanding fair
pay. We are standing with our teachers who are demanding fair pay. And
we stood with the Wells Fargo workers in Albuquerque who made history
in becoming the first unionized branch ever in the history of this
country. It was that solidarity, when we stood with 80,000 flight
attendants stuck in endless negotiations, which helped us to get fair
wages and a new contract for our flight attendants.
That is what it means to stand for workers. It is not just speeches
and pictures on buildings, but it is action in standing with our unions
and standing for fair pay because, Mr. Speaker, the theme here is
simple: Workers just want a fair shot and they want dignity.
Unfortunately, under this administration, the rug is being pulled out
from under their feet. It is shameful, dangerous, and it flies in the
face of everything that this country was built on because let us not
forget that unions built this country.
It is unions that gave us the weekend. It is unions that gave us the
5-day workweek. It is unions that gave us overtime pay. It is unions
that gave us safe workplaces. It is unions that gave us fair wages.
Every worker in America benefits from the courage of organized labor
and every man and woman who has stood for their fellow workers.
Mr. Speaker, I will end with this. I know where I stand. I stand with
my mother and the countless generations that come before us of workers
across the United States and in my home State who stood with the
American worker. We will always stand for unions, we will always stand
for labor, and we will always stand for the American worker.
{time} 1850
Mrs. McIVER. Thank you so much to the gentlewoman from New Mexico for
joining us and for your remarks.
Mr. Speaker, tonight we have heard about the increased discrimination
in the workplace, the repealing of protections for those with
disabilities, and the dangerous construction sites our neighbors are
forced to show up to.
All of this is part of the dangerous campaign the Department of Labor
has launched to dismantle decades of progress for working Americans.
These rollbacks are a direct assault on workers' safety, wages, and
dignity.
From healthcare workers, many of them women and women of color, at
risk of losing minimum wage and overtime protections; to construction
workers who could now be forced to operate in unsafe conditions with no
guarantee of adequate lighting or visibility standards; to farmworkers
who already endure grueling conditions are being stripped of hard-
fought protections.
None of this is okay. This is not normal.
Allow me to say this plainly for the second time tonight: If you work
in America today, you are less safe than you were a year ago. You are
more likely to be underpaid, exploited, or ignored. This is
unacceptable.
I am proud to have led 64 of my colleagues in urging the Secretary of
Labor to reverse course, and I am proud of the work we have done here
tonight to make sure that none of this goes unnoticed.
This work is about the people, the people we serve and every single
American. It is about the home care worker pulling double shifts. It is
about the construction worker trying to make it home to his kids. It is
about the farm worker who feeds our families and us but can't protect
their own families.
We have heard about the rules that will put America's workers in
danger, and if we do not do something about these rules, things will
get worse for American workers. They are unsafe and underpaid, and it
is time we do something about it.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Moore of West Virginia). Members are
reminded to address their remarks to the Chair.
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