Republican Gains May Lead to Labor Pains

Rick Girmaldi was quoted on the Corporate Counsel article ““Republican Gains May Lead to Labor Pains” on November 10, 2014.

Rick was quoted on the great deal of power over the purse strings that Republicans will have over federal entities that will likely remain controlled by Democrats.

“If you think about it, funding is a big issue,” Rick told CorpCounsel.com. “If they don’t have the money to engage in enhanced enforcement, they’re going to be limited in what they can do.”

There’s also a possibility, Paul noted, that Congress could exert its power over such agencies simply by refusing to approve presidential appointments, which Congress has done before. These appointments then could be used as leverage to achieve other goals favored by Republicans.

Then again, Republican gains also could prompt pushback from executive branch labor agencies. “You may see an even more aggressive NLRB and EEOC because they feel that they maybe have two years left to do what it is they feel they need to do,” Paul said.

One of the bigger-name Republicans who got reelected Tuesday was Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, whose victory, according to Rick, seems to show that the governor’s widely known anti-union sentiment is resonating.

“You see him win, and I think that’s going to embolden those newly elected and certainly reelected Republicans in various states to pursue some of the same strategy,” Rick said.

Rick said regardless of whether someone thinks the minimum wage should be decided directly by the voters, the outcomes of these ballot measures will make an impact. “I don’t care what party you’re from, you’re going to listen to voters,” he noted.

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