At least three major labor unions have endorsed President Trump’s new pick to head the Labor Department, Florida International University law school dean R. Alexander Acosta, a significant change from Trump’s previous pick, fast-food businessman Andrew Puzder, who was fiercely opposed by unions and Democrats.
Acosta has been endorsed by the International Union of Operating Engineers, the Laborers’ International Union of North America and the International Association of Fire Fighters. All praised his record of public service in the two previous presidential administrations and said they expected he would fairly apply the law as labor secretary.
“The IAFF had an opportunity to work with Alexander Acosta on a number of issues when he served as assistant attorney general for Civil Rights under President George W. Bush and we always found him to be fair, reasonable and accessible,” said IAFF President Harold A. Schaitberger. “His long and distinguished career in law and government service make him a strong candidate to serve as our country’s next labor secretary.”
LIUNA’s Terry O’Sullivan similarly praised Acosta, saying that “his fairness and respect for justice make him highly qualified to serve as the next secretary of labor.”
A fourth union, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, said it was “pleased” with the nomination but has not formally endorsed him. “Mr. Acosta deserves a prompt hearing. If he commits in those hearings to vigorously enforce laws that protect workers such as the Fair Labor Standards Act … he should be confirmed,” said IUPAT President Kenneth Rigmaiden. He also said Acosta had “a reputation for an open mind and adherence to the rule of law.”
Several other major unions have said they will scrutinize Acosta’s record, but notably, a week after Trump made the pick, no major union appears to have come out against him. “Unlike Andy Puzder, Alexander Acosta’s nomination deserves serious consideration,” said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, in a statement last week.
Acosta is benefiting from having worked with unions as a public official in the past. He served as a member of the National Labor Relations Board, the main federal labor law enforcement agency, from 2002 to 2003.
He was also an assistant attorney general for civil rights during President George W. Bush’s administration and was a U.S. attorney for the southern district of Florida.
“Mr. Acosta has proven that he can handle disparate opinions and information in order to make thoughtful decisions on difficult issues. These qualities are essential to lead an agency that is tasked with such things as protecting workers from wage theft to enforcing standards that keep them safe on the job,” said operating engineers union President James T. Callahan.
Lori Armstrong Halber, a labor lawyer with the management-side law firm Fisher Phillips, said Acosta is more of a traditional pick for the Cabinet, but noted that he is still a Republican, “so it would stand to reason that he will follow the traditional GOP agenda when it comes to wage and hour issues.”
Trump’s prior pick, Puzder, chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants, which owns the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. franchises, was staunchly opposed by unions. They argued that Puzder, an outspoken conservative and critic of federal regulations, could not be trusted to fairly do the job. Puzder withdrew his nomination last week after it became apparent that he did not have enough support from Republican senators.
