Bernie Sanders is open to a career change. The socialist and Independent senator from Vermont told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday night that if offered the secretary of labor position in President-elect Joe Biden’s administration, he would accept the offer.
Is he the worst pick for the job? Probably not. But Sanders in that position could be detrimental in many ways.
Sanders would almost certainly pander to big labor. He has already contacted AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka about the matter, although the decision isn’t up to Trumka. That should give you an idea of the kinds of policies he would push for.
Would Sanders advocate to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to allow more private-sector employees to receive comp time, if they wish, instead of overtime? It’s the kind of policy that would help during the coronavirus pandemic because about 90% of workers go into work sick, according to CNBC.
However, it’s a policy that Democrats refuse to do, in part because the AFL-CIO argues that it would have employers force workers to work more hours without paying them — even though it could be done in a completely voluntary manner.
How about infrastructure? Sanders’s preferences could make reform more difficult, leaving more potholes in the roads of your community’s streets. Thanks to the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, which Sanders supports, the Department of Labor determines local prevailing wage rates. Sanders supports raising prevailing wage rates. During the Great Recession, Sanders supported increasing the prevailing wage rate for Vermont construction projects funded by the federal government.
We should all want higher wages for workers, but if taxpayers are paying for infrastructure upgrades, they deserve a good deal. The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, for example, found that the Davis-Bacon Act raised employment costs on taxpayer-funded federal projects by up to 50% in that state.
And ridesharing services? What Sanders supports would damage them. Sanders wants to reclassify Uber and Lyft drivers as employees instead of independent contractors, even though most of their workers don’t drive full-time. It would raise the cost of rides, decrease their availability, and increase drunk driving incidents.
The downsides help explain why California, certainly one of the more left-wing states, rejected Proposition 22. That’s not to say there aren’t problems with the current arrangement between Uber, Lyft, and their drivers, but Sanders might not be the best person to preside over them.
That’s not to say Sanders would be all bad. Maybe he would tackle non-compete clauses and no-poaching agreements for low-wage workers that restrict the free market, as well as unpaid internships that benefit corporations and people from wealthy families at the expense of everyone else. He could fight for occupational licensing reform and fight to reform the kinds of visa programs he has railed against for years.
Some examples include the H-1B visa program, which Sanders correctly points out gives companies a pathway to outsource jobs. He has also criticized the H-2B visa, which depresses wages in low-skill industries that Sanders has compared to slavery, and the J-1 visa, which allows businesses to hire people to do jobs teenagers could do and not pay payroll taxes. Sanders could be someone who advocates a reduction in the total number of visas, prevention of offshoring, elimination of payroll tax exemptions for J-1 and Q-1 visas, and outlawing unpaid internships as a justification for being in the country, as is the case with some using the OPT program.
However, one problem with work visas is that Biden wants to expand them. So if Sanders were in the position, it’s unclear that he would be able to get anything good done on it, even though his view of visas is probably his strongest policy stance.
Also, if Republicans retain control of the Senate, and hopefully they do, then it’s likely that someone as left-wing as Sanders could not receive enough votes for confirmation. Biden could name him acting secretary without the Senate’s approval, but it’s unclear if he would. Biden isn’t a socialist, so maybe he would just prefer a more moderate liberal like himself.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a freelance writer who has been published by USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Federalist, and a number of other media outlets.
