Josh Hawley and the Republican Effort to Love Labor

Earlier this year, a member of the Federalist Society posted an article raising the alarm about an ambitious proposal to reshape federal labor law. The proposal, titled “A Pro-Worker Framework for the 119th U.S. Congress,” calls for introducing civil penalties to deter employers from engaging in unfair labor practices. It advocates banning so-called captive-audience meetings—gatherings that employees are forced to attend—that companies have used to spread anti-union messages. It also outlines ways to expedite union elections and the implementation of collective-bargaining agreements, which employers frequently delay. With Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress, the odds of enacting such union-friendly reforms may appear remote. But the blogger at the Federalist Society was concerned because, as he noted with dismay, the author of the proposal is himself a prominent Republican, Senator Josh Hawley, of Missouri.

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Daniel Kishi, a policy adviser at American Compass and a former aide to Hawley, told me that the generational divide captured by the survey is mirrored among Republican elected officials, with those who entered office after the 2008 financial crisis—such as Hawley and Vance—more likely to view unfettered markets skeptically and to see rank-and-file union members as potential supporters. These officials understand that, while voters in union households still tend to back Democrats, the gap has narrowed, a dynamic that has enabled Trump to win states like Michigan and Pennsylvania. Some Republicans are even beginning to see the labor movement’s leaders as allies, rather than as Democratic operatives who will turn out the vote for their opponents—in particular Sean O’Brien, the general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who spoke at the Republican National Convention this past summer. Kishi believes that enacting some of the pro-union reforms that drew support from young Republicans in the American Compass survey could solidify the political realignment that has occurred in recent years, leading more and more blue-collar workers to view the Republican Party as their home.