Dear Chairman Cassidy, Ranking Member Sanders, and Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee:
On behalf of the 15 million workers and 63 affiliate unions represented by the AFL-CIO, and the millions more represented by the additional undersigned labor organizations, we strongly oppose the nomination of Jonathan Berry to serve as Solicitor of Labor at the U.S. Department of Labor.
Mr. Berry was the lead author of Project 2025’s labor chapter, which outlines a plan to roll back essential worker protections, limit equal opportunity and workers’ bargaining power, and undermine the fundamental right of workers to form and join free and independent labor unions. This is especially concerning because, despite publicly disavowing Project 2025, the Trump administration has been advancing this anti-worker and anti-union agenda in earnest. Mr. Berry’s Project 2025 ideas should be kept far away from the agency whose mission is to promote the rights and welfare of working people.
The Solicitor of Labor helps decide how a variety of labor and employment laws are enforced. Putting Mr. Berry in this role risks the rights and protections of millions of workers. The Berry chapter of Project 2025 promotes proposals to let states opt out of basic minimum wage and overtime rules, open dangerous jobs to minors, and eliminate basic, longstanding civil rights protections. The Berry chapter also calls for pursuing Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs, which lower training standards and undermine union efforts to ensure apprentices obtain good, family-supporting jobs. While Mr. Berry said at his hearing that he was “agnostic” about the Davis-Bacon Act, which ensures government spending on construction projects does not undermine workers’ prevailing wages, his Project 2025 chapter calls for its absolute repeal, presumably in an effort to drive wages down. While Mr. Berry said he would “enforce the law,” President Trump has claimed that the law for executive branch employees, one of whom would be Mr. Berry, is what the President says it is, not what Congress or the courts say it is. In this new era, it is entirely unclear what law Mr. Berry is referring to when he says he will “enforce the law.” Indeed, he refused to clearly commit to following existing laws over political orders.
Workers deserve a Solicitor of Labor who will uphold the law as enacted by Congress, enforce protections equitably, and serve all working people. Mr. Berry’s Project 2025 proposals and his answers at his hearing indicate he will do otherwise. We urge you to reject Jonathan Berry’s nomination.
Sincerely,
AFL-CIO
Actors' Equity Association
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Federation of Musicians
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)
International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM)
International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Union
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE)
International Organization Of Masters, Mates & Pilots
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT)
Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO (MTD)
National Education Association
Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU)
Pride At Work, AFL-CIO
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
United Mine Workers of America
United Steelworkers (USW)
Utility Workers Union of America