Congress approaching yet another deadline for a new budget plan

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America's Work Force Union Podcast AFL-CIO AWF Government Affairs and Policy

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Bill Samuel

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Bill Samuel, AFL-CIO Legislative Director, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss ongoing issues in Congress, specifically their inability to pass a budget plan for the year. Samuel also addressed proposed cuts to worker protection programs and a constitutional challenge to the National Labor Relations Board.

This Congress has passed fewer bills than any previous Congress, and it seems to be continuing that trend early in 2024, Samuel said. One continuing issue facing Congress is the lack of a funding bill being passed. While the group has passed several continuation spending bills, there have not been any significant moves to compromise and get a spending bill passed. Samuel discussed past deadlines and previewed the issues they need to resolve before the next deadline.

Congress is introducing more cuts, including vital programs protecting workers. Samuel said reductions to the NLRB, job training programs and elimination of the Job Corps would be among the proposed cuts. He does not believe these cuts will be approved, but they are being proposed as part of the spending bills. With their inclusion in the budget proposal, compromises will need to be made by both sides before a deal is agreed upon.

Several well-known corporations are arguing that the NLRB is unconstitutional. The process, known as a constitutional challenge, is being used for the first time since the founding of the NLRB. The corporations responsible for the challenge are well-known anti-union organizations like Amazon, Space X and Tesla, he said.

For more from Samuel, please listen to the show above.

America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

Congress approaching yet another deadline for a new budget plan

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