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'What Oligarchy Looks Like': Trump Reportedly Picks Union-Busting Lawyer for Labor Post
Crystal Carey is a partner at Morgan Lewis, the "top choice of union-busting rat bastards everywhere," one labor journalist said, highlighting how "Amazon has taken full advantage of their evil talents."
Mar 18, 2025
Amid widespread frustrations with U.S. President Donald Trump's attacks on working people, including his pursuit of an economic agenda "of, by, and for billionaires," the Republican is reportedly considering yet another betrayal: installing a partner at "a go-to union-busting law firm" as the next general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board.
That's according to David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect. Shortly after taking office in January, Trump fired NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo—and Democratic board member Gwynne Wilcox, who is fighting her ouster in court. Dayen exclusively reported Monday that Trump plans to replace Abruzzo with Crystal Carey from "the notorious anti-union law firm Morgan Lewis."
Carey is "a former NLRB attorney with experience on both the general counsel and board sides of the agency," according to her biography on the firm's website. Now, "she represents employers" across a wide range of industries for collective bargaining, labor law counseling, and NLRB investigations and litigation.
Since the 1950s, her firm has been "involved in some of the most prominent labor battles in America... from the 1981 air traffic controllers strike to efforts by McDonald's to resist the Fight for $15," Dayen explained. "One of Morgan Lewis' biggest current clients is Amazon, which used algorithmic management and surveillance tactics to prevent unionization at its warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, in 2021. Amazon also has an active lawsuit that seeks to declare the NLRB unconstitutional."
While Dayen's multiple sources didn't know when a formal announcement would be made and the White House did not respond to a request for comment, the journalist—and many readers of his report—highlighted that "the selection would confirm that any talk of the second term of President Trump being in any way pro-labor was largely lip service or sheer fantasy."
The Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO said on social media: "Union-busting is disgusting, especially when it's coming from the highest office. When unelected billionaires have the ear of an already corrupt president, workers and working families will continue to be on the chopping block. This is what oligarchy looks like, folks."
Labor journalist Kim Kelly sarcastically said, "More great stuff from the 'pro-worker' administration."
"To emphasize how much this sucks, Morgan Lewis is *the* top choice of union-busting rat bastards everywhere and Amazon has taken full advantage of their evil talents to harass and intimidate low-wage workers in the South out of organizing," she added.
Jimmy Williams, general president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, said Trump's reported selection of Carey "comes as a complete shock to No ONE."
Some critics took aim at International Brotherhood of Teamsters president Sean O'Brien, who has repeatedly faced backlash for cozying up to Trump's GOP since he spoke at the Republican National Convention last summer. He also came under fire for praising Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump's labor secretary pick, who was confirmed last week.
Dayen noted that "labor secretary is not a big policymaking job, at least not compared to the NLRB general counsel. The general counsel sets priorities for NLRB cases, which govern union elections and rights in the workplace. The Labor Department has important priorities as well, but the work to end the slide in union density in the United States really begins at the NLRB."
In response to Dayen's reporting, Emma Lydon, managing director of government relations at Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said: "Great work, Sean O'Brien. Cozying up to fascists and billionaires really worked out well for all of us."
Jonathan Cohn, political director for Progressive Mass, similarly quipped, "Congratulations to Sean O'Brien!"
The labor podcast Work Stoppagesaid: "Thanks Sean O'Brien for claiming Trump wants to help U.S. workers! He just gave the most powerful labor law post in the country to one of the lawyers fighting the Teamsters at Amazon."
"Allying with the right didn't work for Teamsters" under former Presidents Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan, the podcast's account added, "and it won't work now."
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5 Years After Covid, New York Has Forgotten Its Essential Workers
In a world where the avian flu hovers near us, measles is reemerging, and viruses are mutating daily, we need the example of essential workers’ courage and solidarity to strengthen us for the next public health emergency.
Mar 15, 2025
Just five years after Covid-19 struck New York City, we’ve almost forgotten the early days of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, when refrigerator trucks were filled with dead bodies and 800 people a day were dying from Covid-19. We may remember the lockdowns and disputes over masking and vaccines that persist to this day, but we fail to remember what actually kept the city running and helped it survive: the labor of essential workers in our hospitals, grocery stores, transit system, police precincts, and firehouses.
The desire to forget the traumas of the pandemic is perfectly human, but forgetting the labor that saved the city would be a dangerous mistake. In a world where the avian flu hovers near us, measles is reemerging, and viruses are mutating daily, we need the example of essential workers’ courage and solidarity to strengthen us for the next public health emergency.
When then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s ”New York On Pause” plan took effect on March 22 of 2020, it divided the state’s workforce into essential workers (who were expected to go out to do their jobs) and the rest of us who could labor from home.
Maintaining public health requires setting aside private interest to serve the public good. When a communicable disease attacks, it becomes clear that the health of each of us is bound up with the health of all of us.
Essential workers drew strength from many sources—from socially conscious professionalism to ideals of courage to the support of workmates to the knowledge that their families needed their paycheck to survive.
For some essential workers—above all police and firefighters—facing danger is part of the job. And transit workers toil in a system of buses, subways, and repair shops where hazards are common.
Others faced danger on their jobs for the first time. Healthcare professionals expect to confront dangerous illnesses, but the communicability of Covid-19 was unusual. Cashiers in supermarkets and drug stores were surprised to find themselves facing a deadly disease transmitted by customers and coworkers.
It was a scary time. Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians went into the homes of the sick to provide support, care, and—when all else failed—transportation to a hospital. Nurses learned new skills overnight to meet the demands of Covid-19, then held cellphones next to their dying patients so they could hear the voices of their loved ones. Doctors improvised new forms of communication and treatment. Cashiers and food service workers provided meals and emotional support for customers.
For all their bravery, many essential workers faced terrible working conditions. Bicycle couriers who delivered meals for restaurants confronted poor pay, bad weather, and the galling fact that the restaurants they served would not let them use their toilets. Health care professionals grappled with shortages of protective gear and medical supplies.
Transit workers had to deal with passengers who ignored rules on social distancing. One bus driver was knocked unconscious by a passenger after he asked him to put on a mask to cover his chronic cough.
Still, for a brief time, the city seemed united. Every night at 7:00 pm, New Yorkers learned from their windows or stood on the sidewalk to cheer their essential workers. For precious minutes we broke out of our isolation, saluted the best in us, and strengthened each other. Working together, putting the common good first, the city managed to “bend the curve.” Stay-at-home orders, social distancing, and masking brought the number of infections down.
By June, the Covid-19 surge of spring 2020 was over and deaths were down to a much-reduced level of less than 50 a day.
But the spirit of solidarity proved to be short-lived. Ironically, after vaccines against Covid-19 were introduced in December 2020 and danger eased, the city was gripped by a sour mood, starting with negative reactions to a computerized system of registration for vaccines that was glitchy and inefficient. Restaurant operators had to contend with both changing municipal guidelines and customers who flouted masking requirements. Old currents of hatred, especially antisemitism and racism against Asians, gained new strength. Over time, the value of the vaccines themselves became a subject of debate and disinformation.
One of the great lessons of the pandemic is that solidarity is hard to maintain. When the interest of public health and personal interest aligned, as they did in the spring of 2020, people were willing to wear masks and engage in social distancing to save themselves. Once the vaccines made them feel safe, they were reluctant to accept limitations on their individual lives.
Maintaining public health requires setting aside private interest to serve the public good. When a communicable disease attacks, it becomes clear that the health of each of us is bound up with the health of all of us.
In the grim days of the pandemic, essential workers were their brothers and sisters’ keepers. For all the divisions in our city and country over the pandemic and so much else, the courage of essential workers is something we all can admire. We need to learn from it if we are to build a better future.
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Unions Ready for 'Righteous Fight' as Sanders, Dems Reintroduce PRO Act
"We know it won't be easy," said the AFL-CIO president. "There's no fight more righteous than ensuring that every single worker who wants a union has a fair shot to join or form one."
Mar 05, 2025
As U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Congressman Bobby Scott reintroduced the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act on Wednesday, labor union leaders prepared to fight for the legislation that would strengthen workers' rights.
While Sanders (I-Vt.) and Scott (D-Va.) have long led the battle for the bill on Capitol Hill, most Democrats in Congress—including both minority leaders—also support the PRO Act, which features a wide range of policies intended to hold companies accountable for violating employees' rights and make it easier for workers to form and negotiate with a union.
"Never before in the history of our nation have income and wealth inequality been greater than today. Workers are falling further and further behind. In response, millions of Americans have expressed their desire to join a union," Sanders said in a statement. "However, the billionaire class is fighting with all its might to put down attempts by workers to exercise their constitutional right to unionize."
The PRO Act's reintroduction comes as U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk work to gut the federal government while congressional Republicans—who have narrow majorities in both chambers—work to cut healthcare and food assistance programs that serve working-class people to fund tax giveaways for the ultrawealthy and corporations.
"Congress has an urgent responsibility to ensure that workers can join a union and negotiate for higher pay, better benefits, and safer workplaces."
Sanders pointed to Trump's decision "to illegally fire National Labor Relations Board Member Gwynne Wilcox and effectively shut down the NLRB," and warned that "without a functioning NLRB, corporate bosses can illegally fire unionizing workers, flagrantly violate labor laws and render free and fair union elections near impossible."
"Supporting the immediate reinstatement of Member Wilcox and the swift passage of the PRO Act would be major steps toward building real worker power," added the senator, who is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. "The PRO Act is long overdue and I am proud to be introducing this bill."
Scott also framed the bill as a necessity, saying that "unions are essential for building a strong middle class and improving the lives of workers and families. Regrettably, for too long, workers have suffered from anti-union attacks and toothless labor laws that undermined their right to form a union."
"As union approval remains at record highs, Congress has an urgent responsibility to ensure that workers can join a union and negotiate for higher pay, better benefits, and safer workplaces," he argued. "The PRO Act is the most critical step Congress can take to uplift American workers. I urge my House and Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in advancing the most significant update for workers' labor organizing rights in over 80 years."
Labor leaders also called on members of Congress across the political spectrum to back the bill—which largely lacks GOP support, but is co-sponsored by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.).
"In too many workplaces, in too many industries across the country, big corporations and billionaire CEOs still retaliate against us for organizing," said AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler, who has led the federation since the bill's namesake, Trumka, died in 2021.
"They refuse to negotiate our contracts, force us to sit through hours of anti-union propaganda and engage in illegal union-busting every day," she said of companies and executives. "Now they have an unelected, unaccountable union-buster trying to illegally fire tens of thousands of our fellow workers in federal jobs and an administration rolling back the workplace protections."
Shuler added that "we know it won't be easy, but the labor movement never backs down from a righteous fight. And in today's economy, where our workers' hard-earned paychecks are covering less of what they need while still facing unsafe conditions and a lack of respect on the job, there's no fight more righteous than ensuring that every single worker who wants a union has a fair shot to join or form one."
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees president Lee Saunders reiterated AFSCME's support for the legislation on Wednesday, calling out billionaires and big business for "anti-union extremism" that "is deepening economic inequality, halting progress on health and safety, and harming millions."
"The PRO Act will loosen billionaires' grip on our economic future and make clear that their days of using illegal union busting tactics without consequence are over," he said. "This legislation will level the playing field, giving workers the legal protections they need to organize without fear of retaliation or obstruction. It's about time Congress prioritized workers over billionaires and gave them a fair shot at improving their workplaces."
Other groups that support the PRO Act include the American Federation of Teachers, Communications Workers of America, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, National Nurses United, Service Employees International Union, United Autoworkers, and United Steelworkers, among others.
The right to a union means fair wages, benefits, and security—but corporate greed stands in the way," the Laborers' International Union of North America said on social media Wednesday. "The PRO Act fights back! Congress must choose: Stand with working people or bow to Wall Street. The time is now!"
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