Trump picks union-friendly Labor boss, shaking up traditional party lines

In a ground-breaking move late nov 2024 president-elect Donald Trump picked Lori Chavez-DeRemer as Labor Secretary‚ someone who has often sided with unions (which is rare for a house republican)

Loris strong support from both the Business and Labor communities will ensure that the Labor Department can unite Americans of all backgrounds behind our agenda for unprecedented National Success

The numbers show Trumps worker-focused strategy is working: about 45% of union households backed him this time - up from 40% four years ago. His support came mostly from people making under 100k yearly while Kamala Harris got more votes from higher-income groups

Corporate america isnt happy with this pick: The wall street journal and other big-business media wrote angry pieces about it. Still most americans dont share their view - a recent poll shows that 7 in 10 people like unions; even half of republicans support them

Looking back the GOP wasnt always anti-union: from the 20s to late 90s they actually backed worker rights in their platform. James J Davis - a welsh immigrant and former steelworker served as Labor Secretary under three different republican presidents in the 1920s

The tech world has its own issues with workers rights - Elon Musk and others are trying to fight the 1936 labor law while running their companies with strict worker rules. Last summer Trump got in hot water when he praised musk for (illegally) firing striking workers

Small-business owners and rich donors still push-back against worker-friendly policies but trump seems set on his path: making republicans the go-to party for working people of all backgrounds. Even though only 6% of private workers are in unions today his message hits home with many non-union workers too