Rebuttal of Department of Labor and Related Agencies
by: Jonathan Berry

Rebuttal to Project 2025: Department of Labor and Related Agencies by Jonathan Berry

Jonathan Berry’s Project 2025 vision for the Department of Labor (DOL) advocates for widespread deregulation, limiting federal oversight of workplace protections, and prioritizing corporate interests over workers’ rights. Berry’s proposals focus on reducing labor regulations, rolling back safety standards, and curbing the power of labor unions, all under the banner of promoting economic growth and business flexibility. However, these initiatives would undermine decades of progress made in protecting workers’ rights, wages, and safety, exacerbating economic inequality and leaving millions of American workers more vulnerable to exploitation.

Berry’s approach to the Department of Labor favors a laissez-faire, hands-off approach to workplace regulation, which he argues would foster economic growth and increase job creation. But this vision ignores the critical role that the DOL has historically played in safeguarding the rights of workers, ensuring fair wages, promoting workplace safety, and preventing exploitation. By stripping away these protections, Berry’s vision would disproportionately harm low-income workers, women, minorities, and other vulnerable populations who rely on robust labor standards to protect their rights and well-being.

Deregulation: Undermining Worker Protections

A central pillar of Berry’s Project 2025 vision is the widespread deregulation of labor laws, which he argues stifles business innovation and job growth. Berry advocates for reducing regulations that he believes impose unnecessary burdens on employers, particularly small businesses. However, these regulations are essential for protecting workers from exploitation, unsafe working conditions, and unfair treatment in the workplace.

Labor regulations, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), provide crucial protections for American workers. These laws establish minimum wage standards, mandate overtime pay, ensure workplace safety, and provide workers with the right to take medical leave without fear of losing their jobs. By rolling back these regulations, Berry’s proposals would leave workers without basic protections that ensure fair treatment, safety, and a living wage.

One of Berry’s key goals is to reduce OSHA’s regulatory oversight, which he argues is overly burdensome on businesses. OSHA was established to ensure safe and healthy working conditions by setting and enforcing standards. Weakening OSHA’s ability to inspect workplaces and enforce safety regulations would increase the risk of workplace accidents, injuries, and fatalities, particularly in industries like construction, manufacturing, and agriculture, where workers are already exposed to hazardous conditions. Lowering safety standards in the name of deregulation would put workers’ lives at risk and shift the burden of workplace injuries from employers to employees, who would bear the physical, emotional, and financial consequences.

Similarly, Berry’s proposals to weaken wage and hour regulations would harm low-wage workers who depend on minimum wage protections and overtime pay to make ends meet. In an economy where wage stagnation has already been a growing concern, reducing wage protections would further exacerbate income inequality and push more workers into poverty. The minimum wage, which has not kept pace with inflation and the rising cost of living, would be even less effective as a safeguard for fair pay under Berry’s vision of deregulation.

Weakening Labor Unions: Eroding Workers’ Collective Power

Another troubling aspect of Berry’s vision is his push to weaken labor unions and limit their influence in the workplace. Labor unions have historically played a vital role in advocating for workers’ rights, negotiating fair wages, securing benefits, and ensuring safe working conditions. By limiting the power of unions, Berry’s proposals would reduce workers’ collective bargaining power and make it harder for employees to advocate for their interests in the workplace.

Berry supports so-called “right-to-work” laws, which allow workers to opt out of joining a union or paying union dues, even if they benefit from union representation. While these laws are framed as promoting individual freedom, in reality, they weaken unions by reducing their financial resources and membership, making it more difficult for them to effectively advocate for workers. States with right-to-work laws tend to have lower wages, fewer benefits, and weaker workplace protections than states that support unions.

Berry’s vision also includes curbing the power of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which is responsible for enforcing labor laws and protecting workers’ rights to organize and engage in collective bargaining. The NLRB plays a crucial role in ensuring that workers have a voice in their workplace and are not subject to retaliation for organizing efforts. Weakening the NLRB’s authority would make it easier for employers to suppress unionization efforts, further eroding workers’ ability to advocate for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.

The decline of union membership in the U.S. has been closely tied to the widening gap between rich and poor. Without the collective power of unions to negotiate on behalf of workers, wages have stagnated while corporate profits and executive compensation have soared. By further weakening unions, Berry’s vision would contribute to growing income inequality and leave workers with less power to fight for fair treatment.

Impact on Gig Workers and Independent Contractors

Berry’s vision for the Department of Labor also includes limiting protections for gig workers and independent contractors, who represent a growing segment of the U.S. workforce. Many companies in industries such as ridesharing, delivery services, and freelance work classify their workers as independent contractors, which allows them to avoid providing benefits such as health insurance, paid leave, and retirement plans. These workers are often paid less than employees and lack the job security and benefits that come with traditional employment.

Berry’s push to deregulate the gig economy would make it easier for companies to classify workers as independent contractors, further eroding worker protections. While some workers may prefer the flexibility of gig work, many gig workers face financial insecurity, unpredictable income, and a lack of access to basic benefits. Without federal intervention to address the exploitation of gig workers, Berry’s vision would leave millions of Americans in precarious employment situations without the protections they need to achieve economic stability.

Efforts to extend labor protections to gig workers, such as laws that require companies to provide benefits and minimum wage guarantees for independent contractors, would likely be rolled back under Berry’s proposals. This would exacerbate the exploitation of gig workers, who already face significant barriers to accessing fair wages, benefits, and protections under current labor laws.

Eroding Workplace Safety and Health Protections

Workplace safety is a key responsibility of the Department of Labor, yet Berry’s vision for deregulation would severely undermine efforts to protect workers from dangerous and hazardous conditions. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is tasked with setting and enforcing standards to ensure safe working conditions, particularly in high-risk industries such as construction, manufacturing, and agriculture. Berry’s proposals to weaken OSHA’s regulatory authority would allow employers to cut corners on safety and health standards, putting workers at greater risk of injury, illness, and even death.

For example, industries such as coal mining and manufacturing, which are known for hazardous conditions, would see fewer inspections and weaker enforcement of safety regulations under Berry’s vision. This could lead to more workplace accidents and occupational diseases, as employers would face less accountability for failing to provide safe environments for their workers. Additionally, workers in low-wage jobs, who are often the most vulnerable to exploitation and unsafe conditions, would have fewer avenues for seeking redress if their safety is compromised.

Reducing workplace safety standards in the name of deregulation would disproportionately harm low-income workers, immigrants, and people of color, who are more likely to be employed in hazardous industries. Without strong safety regulations and enforcement mechanisms, these workers would be left to bear the physical and financial consequences of workplace injuries and illnesses.

Exacerbating Economic Inequality

Jonathan Berry’s vision for the Department of Labor, with its focus on deregulation, weakening unions, and limiting workplace protections, would exacerbate existing economic inequalities in the U.S. By prioritizing corporate interests over the rights and well-being of workers, Berry’s proposals would further tilt the economic playing field in favor of wealthy business owners and executives, leaving low- and middle-income workers with fewer protections and less bargaining power.

Economic inequality in the U.S. has been steadily rising for decades, with the richest Americans capturing an increasing share of the nation’s wealth, while wages for most workers have stagnated. Berry’s vision, which seeks to reduce labor regulations and weaken unions, would contribute to this trend by making it easier for employers to pay lower wages, reduce benefits, and cut corners on workplace safety.

By weakening labor protections, Berry’s approach would also disproportionately harm women, people of color, and immigrants, who are more likely to work in low-wage jobs with fewer benefits. These workers already face significant barriers to economic mobility, and reducing federal protections would make it harder for them to achieve financial stability and upward mobility.

Conclusion: A Vision That Harms Workers and Deepens Inequality

Jonathan Berry’s Project 2025 vision for the Department of Labor represents a dangerous step backward for workers’ rights, workplace safety, and economic equality. By prioritizing deregulation, weakening unions, and reducing federal oversight, Berry’s proposals would undermine the protections that millions of American workers rely on to ensure fair wages, safe working conditions, and job security.

Berry’s approach, which places corporate profits above workers’ well-being, would exacerbate economic inequality, deepen the divide between rich and poor, and leave vulnerable workers without the protections they need to thrive. Rather than weakening the role of the Department of Labor, the U.S. should be strengthening labor protections, expanding worker rights, and addressing the growing economic inequality that threatens the stability of the American workforce.

The Department of Labor plays a crucial role in ensuring that workers are treated fairly, paid a living wage, and protected from unsafe conditions. Berry’s vision undermines these essential protections and should be rejected in favor of policies that promote worker empowerment, fairness, and economic justice.