SUMMARY
Trump administration repeatedly rolled back worker safety regulations and laws meant to increase worker safety, particularly in fields with notably high rates of worker injury and worker death.
Donald Trump signed a paid leave bill into law that did not extent to the private sector and did not extend paid leave to workers caring for sick family members
Donald Trump’s administration eliminated an Obama-Era rules intended to help the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s ability to investigate companies with large pay disparities.
Wage growth under the Trump Administration was slow yet Donald Trump frequently misrepresented the numbers to paint a more positive image of real wage growth.
Donald Trump was consistently inconsistent on his minimum wage position.
During Its First Two Years The Trump Administration Rolled Back Worker Safety Protections Affecting Several Industries, Including Mining, Offshore Oil Drilling, And Meat Processing. According to Politico, “But almost two years in, the Trump administration has done the opposite, rolling back worker safety protections affecting underground mine safety inspections, offshore oil rigs and line speeds in meat processing plants, among others.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Trump’s Moves To Deregulate Worker Safety Were At Odds With His Public Stance Championing Working Class Americans. According to Politico, “When President Donald Trump came into office pledging to cut regulations ‘massively,’ he made a point of exempting regulations that protected workers’ health. […] Trump’s deregulatory moves on worker safety are at odds with his public stance as a champion of working class Americans, but consistent with his naming two management-side attorneys bent on rolling back economic protections for workers to the National Labor Relations Board, which regulates labor unions, and with his nominations of two reliably pro-management jurists to a now-Republican-majority Supreme Court that recently dealt a heavy financial blow to public-employee unions.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Dec. 2017: Trump Cancelled Or Delayed 1,500 Regulatory Actions. According to Politico, “‘We want to protect our workers,’ President Trump repeated one year later in a speech touting the cancellation or delay of 1,500 regulatory actions.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Trump’s Appointed David Zatezalo, A Former Coal Executive, To Head The Mine Safety And Health Administration (MSHA). According to Politico, “Trump’s mine safety chief, David Zatezalo, is a former coal executive who as recently as 2011 was cited by the agency he now leads for a pattern of safety violations.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
2011: MSHA Cited Zatezalo For A Pattern Of Safety Violations. According to Politico, “Trump’s mine safety chief, David Zatezalo, is a former coal executive who as recently as 2011 was cited by the agency he now leads for a pattern of safety violations.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
A West Virginia Miner Was Killed In A Rock Wall Collapse While Zatezalo Was President And CEO Of Rhino Resources. According to Politico, “When Zatezalo was president and CEO at Rhino Resources, a West Virginia miner was killed when a portion of a rock wall collapsed. The accident occurred after Rhino already had been cited for one worker safety violation, and before it received a second.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Under Zatezalo’s Leadership MSHA Allowed Inspections To Begin While Miners Were Already At Work, Departing From An Obama Era Rule Stating Inspections Had To Occur Before Shirts To Protect Workers’ From Falling Debris. According to Politico, “Under the Obama administration, inspections had to occur before workers began their shifts — to scale away, for instance, loose pieces of rock that might fall on them. But in April, the Zatezalo-led Mine Safety and Health Administration said it would allow inspections to begin while miners were already at work. The change was first proposed two months before Zatezalo was confirmed.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Dec. 2017: The Trump Administration Announced Revisions Safety-Monitoring Rules For Offshore Drilling Operations. According to Washington Post, “The Trump administration is overhauling how federal officials monitor safety procedures on offshore drilling operations, revising a pair of rules enacted in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill on the grounds that they are overly burdensome on industry. On Friday, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) will publish new regulations for the production-safety-systems rule, which addresses devices used during offshore oil production.” [Washington Post, 12/28/17]
Trump’s Interior Department Proposed A Rule To Rescind A Requirement That Allowed Only Government-Approved Third Parties To Inspect Blowout Preventers On Offshore Oil Rigs. According to Politico, “A proposed rule would rescind the requirement that only government-approved third parties may inspect blowout preventers that seal a well in the event of a pressure surge.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
The Proposed Revisions Would Allow Rig Operators To Test Equipment Less Frequently, Saving The Oil Industry $900 Million Over Ten Years. According to Politico, “The revisions would also allow rig operators to test equipment less frequently, to prevent ‘wear and tear.’ All told, the changes would save industry more than $900 million over 10 years.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
The Revisions Also Removed The Word “Safe” From Language Describing The Level Of Down-Hole Pressure Operators Were Required To Maintain To Avoid An Accident. According to Washington Post, “The revisions also include other changes the industry has sought. Safety-bureau regulators removed a key word from language describing the level of down-hole pressure the agency requires operators to maintain in a given well to avoid an accident. The word it removed is ‘safe.’ Pressure tests, which failed in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, no longer have to ‘show’ that a well is in balance. Instead, they should ‘indicate’ that.” [Washington Post, 5/2/19]
Feb. 2018: The USDA Proposed Lifting Line Speed Requirements In Hog Processing Plants In An Effort To Streamline Safety Inspections At Meat-Processing Plants. According to Politico, “USDA in February proposed lifting line speed requirements in hog processing plants — part of an effort to streamline food safety inspections at the plants, which currently may process no more than 1,100 hogs per hour. Agriculture department officials wrote in the proposal that they seek to remove ‘unnecessary regulatory obstacles’ and cut food safety inspection staff, saving taxpayers $8.7 million. The change would also would free up line inspectors to inspect other areas of the plant, they wrote.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Worker Advocates Worried That The Change Would Further Increase Injuries In The Meatpacking Industry, Which Already Saw Higher Injury Rates Than In All Other U.S. Industries As A Whole. According to Politico, “At the Agriculture Department, officials are weighing whether to raise line speeds at meat-packing plants, a change that worker advocates say would increase repetitive motion injuries and accidents. According to government data, the injury rates in meatpacking are already higher than in U.S. industries as a whole.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
USDA Food Safety Officials Acknowledged That Worker Safety Was Not An Organizational Priority. According to Politico, “But USDA food safety officials acknowledge that safety wasn’t a top priority. ‘We don’t regulate worker safety,’ acting administrator Paul Kiecker said. ‘What we regulate at FSIS is the food safety. That’s not to say we are not interested in employee safety. We are definitely interested in that.’” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Mark Lauritsen, Director Of Meat Packing And Food Processing For United Food And Commercial Workers, Warned The Rule Changes Could Lead To Shoulder, Neck, Back, And Wrist Injuries In Workers. According to Politico, “Increased speeds could lead to shoulder, neck, back and wrist injuries, Lauritsen said. In addition, increased line speeds could cause workers to take shortcuts in an environment that’s already dangerous. ‘It’s hot, it’s humid, it’s slick, it’s bloody,’ he said.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Lauritsen: “Common Sense Would Tell You That You Cannot Increase Line Speeds…And Not Expect Injuries To Go Up.” According to Politico, “But ‘common sense would tell you [that] you cannot increase line speeds at a fast, repetitive motion and not expect injuries to go up,’ said Mark Lauritsen, director of meat packing and food processing for the United Food and Commercial Workers.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Dan Kovich, A Director Of Science And Technology For The National Pork Producers Council, Said The Rule Changes’ Would Increase Speeds Minimally And Said Effects On Workers Were “Really Outside Our Area Of Expertise.” According to Politico, “Dan Kovich, director of science and technology for the National Pork Producers Council, the industry’s chief advocacy group, says the proposal will increase line speeds in a way that will be invisible to the naked eye. He noted that the program to raise line speeds began as a pilot program under former President Bill Clinton. As for the effect on workers, ‘that’s really outside our area of expertise,’ Kovich said.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
The Trump Administration Said It Would Consider Applications To Raise Line Speeds At Certain Poultry Processing Plants. According to a Food Safety and Inspection Service press release obtained via USDA, “FSIS’ Criteria for Consideration of Waiver Requests from Young Chicken Slaughter Establishments to Operate at Line Speeds Up to 175 Birds Per Minute As we recently said in the denial of a petition requesting the waiver of maximum line speeds for certain poultry slaughter establishments operating under the New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS), FSIS is making available criteria that it will use to consider waiver requests from NPIS young chicken establishments to permit these establishments to test new equipment, technologies, or procedures that will allow them to maintain process control at faster line speeds.” [USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, 2/23/18]
An Additional 20 Poultry Processing Establishments Received Line Speed Waivers. According to a Food Safety and Inspection Service press release obtained via USDA, “These waivers will be in addition to line speed waivers granted to the 20 former HACCP-Based Inspection Models Project (HIMP) young establishments after they converted to NPIS.” [USDA - Food Safety and Inspection Service, 2/23/18]
Poultry Workers Faced Higher Injury Rates Than Manufacturing Workers Overall. According to Politico, “Poultry workers already face higher injury rates than manufacturing workers overall, worker advocates note.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Many Poultry Plant Workers Did Not Report Dangerous Conditions Due To Feat Of Retaliation. According to Politico, “At a plant in Maryland in 2014, government researchers found that more than one-third of workers suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome. Many more don’t report dangerous conditions due to fear of retaliation, according to the Government Accountability Office, making it hard for the government to accurately assess the scope of the problem.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Before Entering Office Trump Claimed “We Need Regulations For Safety And Environment And Things.” According to Politico, “That action was more in tune with Trump’s earlier rhetoric. ‘We need regulations for safety and environment and things,’ President-elect Trump assured workers at an Indianapolis air-conditioner plant in December 2016.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Trump’s Occupational And Health Administration (OSHA) Proposed A Rule To Loosen Reporting Requirements For Injury And Illness Data At Companies With More Than 250 Workers. According to Politico, “At the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Trump officials are seeking to loosen reporting requirements for injury and illness data from large companies. A rule proposed in July in would relieve companies with 250 workers or more from a previous obligation to submit detailed injury and illness data, which OSHA had intended to publish online.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
A Labor Spokesperson Said The OSHA Proposal Would “Protect Both The Safety And Privacy Of America’s Workers.” According to Politico, “The Labor Department spokeswoman said the proposal ‘would protect both the safety and the privacy of America’s workers.’ ‘Injury and illness data must still be reported and posted in individual establishments and will continue to be used for enforcement purposes,’ she said in a written statement. ‘The proposed rule would protect workers’ personally identifiable information and sensitive medical information from Freedom of Information Act inquiries. The proposal would not change the existing requirements for the electronic submission of summaries of work-related injuries and illnesses each year.’” [Politico, 9/3/18]
A National Employment Law Project (NELP) Study Found That OSHA Enforcement Fell From 2017 To 2018. According to Politico, “A NELP study released in June found that OSHA enforcement fell from 2017 to 2018, after Trump took office.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
2017-2018: 5,200 American Workers Were Killed On The Job With More Than 2.85 Million Suffering Serious Injury. According to National Employment Law Project, “Almost 5,200 workers were killed on the job last year and over 2.85 million more suffered an injury serious enough to warrant medical attention or time away from their job.” [National Employment Law Project, 6/11/18]
Despite An Increase In Work-Related Fatalities, OSHA Enforcement Activity Under The Trump Administration Declined. According to National Employment Law Project, “The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that the number of work-related fatalities is increasing.[ii] Yet, under the Trump administration, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforcement activity—crucial to saving workers’ lives—is declining.” [National Employment Law Project, 6/11/18]
Trump Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Denied Undocumented Workers Had The Right To Collective Bargaining And That Sea World Was Not Responsible For A Killer Whale Attack That Left An Employee Dead. According to Politico, “One of those Supreme Court nominees, Brett Kavanaugh, will on Tuesday begin Senate confirmation hearings, where Judiciary Committee Democrats will almost certainly quiz him about dissenting opinions in which he denied undocumented workers had the right to bargain collectively and that San Diego’s Sea World bore responsibility for a deadly attack on one of its employees by a killer whale.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Two Of Trump’s National Labor Relations Board Appointees Were Management-Side Attorneys Who Wanted To Roll Back Worker Protections. According to Politico, “When President Donald Trump came into office pledging to cut regulations ‘massively,’ he made a point of exempting regulations that protected workers’ health. […] Trump’s deregulatory moves on worker safety are at odds with his public stance as a champion of working class Americans, but consistent with his naming two management-side attorneys bent on rolling back economic protections for workers to the National Labor Relations Board, which regulates labor unions, and with his nominations of two reliably pro-management jurists to a now-Republican-majority Supreme Court that recently dealt a heavy financial blow to public-employee unions.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
AFL-CIO’s Peg Seminario: “The Administration And The President Have Been Totally Anti-Worker.” According to Politico, “‘When you look at core worker protections and union rights, the administration and the president have been totally anti-worker,’ said Peg Seminario, director of occupational safety and health for the AFL-CIO.” [Politico, 9/3/18]
Eighty Percent Of Private Sector Workers Had No Access To Paid Family Leave. According to CBS News, “The country’s 2.1 million government employees will gain 12 weeks of paid parental leave as part of a defense bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday. But it still leaves about 80% of U.S. workers in the private sector with no access to paid family leave. The U.S. is one of a handful of countries that lacks a federal policy, at least for new mothers, leaving employers to decide whether to offer it.” [CBS News, 12/23/19]
Only 9 Percent Of Workers In The Bottom 25 Percent Had Access To Paid Family Leave Compared To 40 Percent Of Workers in The Top 25 Percent. According to CBS News, “Disproportionately, paid leave has gone to higher-paid white collar workers. Just 9% of wage earners in the bottom 25% have access to paid family leave, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compares to 30% of wage earners in the top 25%.” [CBS News, 12/23/19]
Dec. 2019: Trump Signed The Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (FEPLA) Into Law, Granting Federal Employees Up To 12 Weeks Paid Time Off For The Birth, Adoption, Or Foster Of A New Child. According to Federal News Network, “The Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (FEPLA), which President Donald Trump signed into law in mid-December, grants employees up to 12 weeks of paid time off for the birth, adoption or foster of a new child. Lawmakers, the White House and employee groups have touted the new benefit as an historic achievement for the federal workforce.” [Federal News Network, 1/8/20]
A 2019 Bill To Expand Paid Leave Coverage For Federal Workers Did Not Include Paid Time Off For Workers With A Serious Illness Or Caring For A Sick Relative. According to CBS News, “Even under the policy passed by Congress for federal workers, there are still gaps in coverage. For instance, federal workers do not get paid leave for their own serious illness or to care for a sick relative” [CBS News, 12/23/19].
As Written, FEPLA Excluded Federal Employees Who Were Not Covered By Title 5 – Including Federal Aviation Administration And Transportation Security Administration Workers – And Left It Unclear As To Whether Workers Covered By Other Statues Could Access The New Paid Leave Benefits. According to Federal News Network, “But as it’s written, FEPLA leaves out federal employees who aren’t covered by Title 5, and the language at times is ambiguous as to whether workers covered by other statutes would also have access to new paid parental leave benefits. Specifically, the paid parental leave law leaves out much of the Federal Aviation Administration, some employees at the Transportation Security Administration, non-judicial employees of the District of Columbia courts, the District of Columbia Public Defender Service, presidential employees and bankruptcy and magistrate judges.” [Federal News Network, 1/8/20]
August 2017: The Trump Administration Halted An Obama Era Rule That Aimed To Close The Wage Gap By Requiring Large Companies To Report Pay Data By Race And Gender. According to Washington Post, “The Trump administration has halted a rule that would have required large companies to report to the government what they pay employees by race and gender — an Obama-era policy that aimed to close what economists call the wage gap.” [Washington Post, 8/30/17]
Administration Officials Argued The Data Collection Rule Was “Unnecessarily Burdensome” And Needed To Be Reviewed. According to Washington Post, “In a letter sent Tuesday to Victoria Lipnic, acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Neomi Rao, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, said the Office of Management and Budget had paused the government’s pay data collection process to review it. ‘OMB is concerned that some aspects of the revised collection of information lack practical utility, are unnecessarily burdensome, and do not adequately address privacy and confidentiality issues,’ Rao wrote, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.” [Washington Post, 8/30/17]
While Campaigning For Her Father, Ivanka Trump Promised To Support Equal Pay Efforts Yet Supported Administration Efforts To Halt The Obama Era EEOC Rule. According to Newsweek, “First daughter Ivanka Trump, who on her father’s campaign trail vowed to push to close the gap between the wages of men and women, did not rush to remark on the arrival of Equal Pay Day on Tuesday. […] ‘Ultimately, while I believe the intention was good and agree that pay transparency is important, the proposed policy would not yield the intended results,’ the first daughter said. ‘We look forward to continuing to work with [the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission], [the Office of Management and Budget], Congress and all relevant stakeholders on robust policies aimed at eliminating the gender wage gap.’ Ivanka Trump’s decision to back the move led to widespread criticism.” [Newsweek, 4/10/18]
Critics Argued The Move Contradicted Trump’s Claimed Support For Equal Pay. According to Washington Post, “The decision landed Tuesday evening, prompting outrage from groups who note that women and minorities still aren’t receiving equal pay for equal work. Some of the furor was directed at Ivanka Trump, who has previously spoken out against wage disparities and workplace discrimination. Fatima Goss Graves, president and chief executive of the National Women’s Law Center, said the move contradicts President Trump’s claim that he wants prosperity for every American. ‘It’s not enough to say ‘equal pay,’ ‘ Grave said. ‘It matters what policies you stand behind.’” [Washington Post, 8/30/17]
March 2019: A Federal Judge Ordered The Trump Administration To Reinstate An Obama-Era Rule Requiring Companies To Report Pay Data By Race And Gender. According to Washington Post, “A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate an Obama-era rule that required companies to report pay data by race and gender, a move advocates say will help shrink the wage gap.” [Washington Post, 3/5/19]
Judge Tanya S. Chutkan Ruled The Trump Administration Violated The Law When It Halted The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Pay Data Collection Efforts. According to Washington Post, “Tanya S. Chutkan, a U.S. district judge for the District of Columbia, ruled that the Trump administration violated the law when it halted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s efforts to collect pay data by race and gender from large companies. In defending its decision to freeze the rule, Chutkan wrote, the government failed to demonstrate that the requirements would ‘meaningfully increase the burden on employers.’” [Washington Post, 3/5/19]
Sept. 2019: The Trump-Appointed EEOC Head Announced Plans To Abandon 2016 Regulations Requiring Large Companies To Provide Pay Data Broken Down By Gender, Race, And Ethnicity. According to HuffPost, “The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, now led by one of President Donald Trump’s appointees, hopes to get rid of employer reporting rules meant to shed light on gender and race pay disparities in the workplace. The agency posted notices Wednesday in the federal register and on its website saying that it would be ditching regulations put in place in 2016, when the EEOC was led by Democrats. The rules required large companies to provide the government with data on employee pay broken down by gender, race and ethnicity.” [HuffPost, 9/11/19]
The Wage Gap Between Men And Women Remains The Same In 2018, With Women Working Full-Time Earning 82 Cents For Every Dollar Earned By Men. According to Reuters, “The wage gap between men and women in the United States failed to budge in 2018, government data showed on Tuesday, sparking calls for action to end pay discrimination. Women working full-time year-round earned 82 cents for every dollar earned by men last year, the U.S. Census Bureau said, meaning the size of the gender pay gap was unchanged statistically from a year earlier.” [Reuters, 9/10/19]
In 2017 The Gender Pay Gap In The Trump White House Was 37 Percent. According to Las Vegas Review Journal, “Perry found that the gender pay gap in the Trump White House in 2017 was larger — 37 percent — with men earning a median salary of $115,000 and women earning $72,650.” [Las Vegas Review Journal, 8/12/19]
2019: Male White House Staffers Earned A Median Salary Of $106,000 Compared To A Median Salary Of $80,000 For Female Staffers. According to Las Vegas Review Journal, “Yet an annual report of White House salaries through June 28 shows that the median salary of male White House staffers is $106,000, but $80,000 for female staffers, according to Mark J. Perry, a scholar at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, and number crunching by the Review-Journal.” [Las Vegas Review Journal, 8/12/19]
Male White House Staffers Earned Close To 25 Percent More Than Female Staffers – A Pay Gap Larger Than The National Gender Pay Gap. According to Las Vegas Review Journal, “That disparity indicates male White House staffers are paid close to 25 percent more than female staffers — a pay gap larger than the 19 percent national gender gap in median weekly earnings in 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. ‘People have an image of themselves that sometimes are not borne out by the numbers. That’s why the numbers are so important,’ said Jocelyn Frye, a senior fellow who focuses on women’s issues for the left-leaning Center for American Progress. ‘I know very few employers who say ‘we stink.’ ‘” [Las Vegas Review Journal, 8/12/19]
When Accounting For Inflation And Cost Of Living, Wage Growth Has Been Unremarkable Under Trump, And Still Hasn’t Caught Up To 2006 Levels. According to Vox, “You may have heard President Donald Trump say that the US economy is booming right now. That’s an exaggeration, but the economy is definitely growing, as the latest economic indicators show. But why doesn’t it feel like the economy is growing? The answer is pretty simple: Because economic growth is not really benefiting the average American worker. The chart below says it all. The red line shows that overall wages are growing faster than they have in a long time — about 3 percent per year. That’s great, right? Not really. Look at the blue line. That’s the actual wage growth when you factor in inflation and cost of living (based on the Consumer Price Index). […]Here is another measure of income growth, which shows a similar trend. This shows that wage growth still hasn’t caught up to 2006 levels. The chart below is based on data from Payscale.com, which includes government statistics and business surveys.” [Vox, 3/1/19]
Pew Research Headline: For Most U.S. Workers, Real Wages Have Barely Budged In Decades. [Pew Research, 8/7/18]
Capital & Main/Newsweek Headline: Under Trump, Income Growth Slows Across U.S. [Capital & Main/Newsweek, 2/24/20]
Inflation-Adjusted Income Growth Slowed Significantly Across The United States After Trump Entered Office. According to Capital & Main/Newsweek, “New analysis of government data shows that, since Donald Trump took office, inflation-adjusted income growth has slowed significantly across the U.S.” [Capital & Main/Newsweek, 2/24/20]
Trump Claimed Median Household Income Had Increased By $7,000 During The First Two Years Of His Presidency. According to Washington Post, “‘Median household income under eight years of Obama was up $975. That’s eight years. Under eight years of President Bush — we had President Obama, $975. President Bush, $400. Eight years, eight years, $400, $975. Me, two and a half years, it’s up $7,000. $5,000 plus $2,000 for the tax cut that everybody got.’ — Trump, interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News, Oct. 21” [Washington Post, 10/28/19]
Trump’s Claims Were Based On Several Opinion Articles Written By His Former Campaign Economic Adviser Stephen Moore. According to Washington Post, “The president has a shiny new talking point, courtesy of some opinion articles by Stephen Moore, a former campaign economic adviser whom he briefly nominated for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board. Moore argued that the median household income gain under Bush was a little over $400 and under Obama about $1,000, compared with $5,000 under Trump. He also added in the supposed tax cut savings.” [Washington Post, 10/28/19]
Washington Post Analysis Found Trump’s Framing For The Claim To Be “Misleading.” According to Washington Post, “Trump may have reason to crow about the trends in the growth of household median income, but his framing is misleading, especially when he compares himself with Obama. In general, the gains documented are mostly a continuation of a trend started under Obama. Trump earns Two Pinocchios.” [Washington Post, 10/28/19]
48 States Saw Decline In Growth Of Real Median Household Income Under Trump. According to Capital & Main/Newsweek, “All but two states saw a decline in growth of real median household income under Trump – including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Florida, four states widely regarded as the key electoral battlegrounds that will likely determine the 2020 presidential election.” [Capital & Main/Newsweek, 2/24/20]
Middle-Class Incomes Grew At A Rate Of 2.7 Percent From 2016 To 2018 Compared To 5.8 Percent Growth From 2014 To 2016. According to Capital & Main/Newsweek, “Middle-class incomes grew at a rate of 2.7 percent from 2016 through 2018, compared to a 5.8 percent growth rate from 2014 through 2016 when accounting for inflation. ‘Despite what we heard at the State of the Union, the truth is that this economy is not performing well for most Americans,’ says Thea Lee, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute (EPI). ‘At this point in the business cycle, wage and income growth for working households should be accelerating, not slowing.’” [Capital & Main/Newsweek, 2/24/20]
2016 To 2018: Real Median Household Income Declined In Six States And The District Of Columbia. According to Capital & Main/Newsweek, “Between 2016 and 2018, real median household income declined in six states and the District of Columbia, which has three electoral votes. During the 2014-2016 Obama expansion, median household income declined in one state. The decline in real median household income occurred in mostly red states: Alaska, West Virginia, South Dakota, and Wyoming. It also occurred in New Mexico, which is considered a long-shot for Trump, and in the blue state of Connecticut.” [Capital & Main/Newsweek, 2/24/20]
Economists Said Trump Squandered Opportunities To Increase Gains For Middle Class Families And In Some Cases Backed Policies That Worked Against Middle Class Interests. According to Capital & Main/Newsweek, “‘An infrastructure bill would clearly have [had] a marked impact, especially on middle-level jobs,’ says Mark Muro, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute’s Metropolitan Policy Project. ‘Manufacturing is going in the wrong direction. I think there are all kinds of policy opportunities that have not been exploited.’” [Capital & Main/Newsweek, 2/24/20]
In His 2020 State Of The Union Trump Noted That Wages Were Rising Fastest For Low-Income Workers But Failed To Mention That The Rise Was Due In Large Part To Minimum Wage Increases At The State Level. According to USA Today, “In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Trump touted a ‘blue collar boom,’ noting that wages ‘are rising fastest for low-income workers.’ He’s correct, but Trump left out one thing: a large portion of those gains can be traced to minimum wage increases in more than half the states. The median wage for the bottom fifth of workers has climbed much more sharply in states that have raised their pay floors than in states that haven’t, according to a study provided exclusively to USA TODAY by the National Employment Law Project (NELP).” [USA Today, 2/7/20]
Former Trump Economic Advisers Gary Cohn And Kevin Hassett Argued That Trump’s Tax Cuts Led To Increased Wages But Data Suggested Increased Minimum Wages Was Also A Significant Factor. According to Washington Post, “Last week, Gary Cohn, former director of President Trump’s National Economic Council, and Kevin Hassett, former chairman of the Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed making the case that Trump’s tax cuts paved the way for rising wages for those in lower-paying jobs. The November unemployment rate was at its lowest since 1969, at 3.5 percent, according to the Labor Department. Competition for workers at all levels, including low-skilled ones, has intensified. But can it really be a coincidence that the boom in wage growth came at a time when around half the states raised their minimum wage? The data suggests that changes to minimum wage laws also played a role.” [Washington Post, 1/2/20]
Economists Said Higher Minimum Wages Had A Clear Influence On Wage Growth. According to Washington Post, “But the influence of a higher minimum wage on low-wage workers is clear, economists say, even if its magnitude can be hard to measure. ‘This suggests that the minimum wage has been a factor, though not the primary factor, behind wage growth at the lower end,’ said economist Jeffrey Clemens of the University of California at San Diego, who has been more skeptical of the benefits of a higher minimum wage than some of his peers.” [Washington Post, 1/2/20]
May 2017-May 2018: Real Wages Increased 2.4% For The Bottom Fifth Of Workers In States That Increased Minimum Wage. According to USA Today, “That trend appeared to continue in Trump’s administration. From May 2017 to May 2018, the latest data available, real wages rose 2.4% for the bottom fifth of workers in states with minimum wage increases versus 0.26% for such workers in states that kept their pay floors unchanged.” [USA Today, 2/7/20]
Analysis Suggested That Wages Increased In Part Due To A Nationwide Movement To Increase Minimum Wages At The State And Local Level. According to Washington Post, “The Trump White House and Washington policymakers have touted the tight labor market as the main engine driving gains for the working class, but a Washington Post analysis of Labor Department data suggests that paychecks also grew because of a nationwide movement of rising minimum wages in various states and cities over the past couple of years.” [Washington Post, 1/2/20]
Throughout His 2016 Presidential Campaign, Trump Was Inconsistent On His Minimum Wage Position, Advocating For Both For And Against Increasing The Federal Minimum Wage. According to USA Today, “During his presidential campaign, Trump at times advocated keeping the federal minimum at $7.25 an hour and other times said that was ‘too low.’ In July, the Office of Management and Budget opposed a House-passed bill that would more than double the U.S. base wage to $15.” [USA Today, 2/7/20]
2015: Trump Said He Wanted To “keep The Minimum Wage Pretty Much Where It Is Right Now.” According to Bloomberg, “In 2015, Trump said he wanted to ‘keep the minimum wage pretty much where it is right now’ in an interview with MSNBC, and two months later told Fox News that a New York proposal to raise its lowest wage to $15 an hour was ‘too high.’” [Bloomberg, 6/21/19]
July 2016: Trump Said He Would Support A $10 Federal Minimum Wage. According to CNN, “Donald Trump said Tuesday he would support raising the federal minimum wage to $10 an hour, a departure from his previous assertion that wages are ‘too high.’ The Republican presidential nominee was pressed to provide a specific number by Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly, who said, ‘there has to be a federal minimum wage.’ […] ‘Ten bucks?’ O’Reilly asked. ‘I would say 10. I would say 10,’ Trump agreed. ‘But with the understanding that somebody like me is going to bring back jobs. I don’t want people to be in that $10 category for very long. But the thing is, Bill, let the states make the deal.’” [CNN, 7/27/16]
PolitiFact Rated Trump’s Campaign Stance On Minimum Wage A “Full Flop.” According to PolitiFact, “Trump emphasized in both instances that he prefers the states to raise their minimum wages on their own, so it’s fair to say that Trump is sending conflicting messages. Still, his contrast on the question of a federal minimum wage hike is pretty stark. We rate this a Full Flop.” [PolitiFact, 7/28/16]
Trump Previously Argued That The Minimum Wage Should Be Decided By States. According to CNN, “Trump has said in the past that he believes the minimum wage should be decided by the states, but his position on the issue has changed over time.” [CNN, 7/27/16]
Nov. 2015: Trump Opposed Calls To Increase The Minimum Wage To $15/Hour. According to CNN, “At a Republican presidential debate last November, Trump said he couldn’t support protesters demanding a $15-an-hour minimum wage. ‘Taxes too high, wages too high,’ he said. ‘We’re not going to be able to compete against the world. I hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is. People have to go out, they have to work really hard and they have to get into that upper stratum. But we cannot do this if we are going to compete with the rest of the world. We just can’t do it.’” [CNN, 7/27/16]
June 2019: Trump Said He Was Considering A $15/Hour Federal Minimum Wage. According to Bloomberg, “President Donald Trump said he’s considering backing an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour, as some Democratic presidential candidates have proposed, but says salary growth during his presidency should assuage concerns over fair pay. ‘I am looking at that,’ Trump said in an interview with ‘Noticias Telemundo.’” [Bloomberg, 6/21/19]
Trump’s Signaled A Shift In His Position After The House Passed A Bill To Raise The Federal Minimum Wage. According to NPR, “A bill to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour has cleared a legislative hurdle that sets it up for a vote by the House of Representatives in the coming weeks. This move in Congress is a sign of broader political momentum for the minimum wage issue, long embraced by progressives who were key to the Democrats taking control of the House. The matter is poised to play prominently in the 2020 presidential campaign.” [NPR, 3/6/19]
Trump Argued That Salary Growth Under His Administration Should Assuage Concerns Over Fair Pay Since “Wages Have Gone Up More Than Anybody In Many Decades.” According to Bloomberg, “President Donald Trump said he’s considering backing an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour, as some Democratic presidential candidates have proposed, but says salary growth during his presidency should assuage concerns over fair pay. ‘I am looking at that,’ Trump said in an interview with ‘Noticias Telemundo.’ Trump also said he had ‘already created a minimum wage because wages have gone up more than anybody in many decades right now’ as a result of the strong economy.” [Bloomberg, 6/21/19]
2018: Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow Said He Would Oppose Any Deal To Raise The Federal Minimum Wage, Calling Any Increase A “Terrible Idea” That Would Damage Small Businesses. According to The Hill, “White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Thursday said he would oppose any deal that would raise the federal minimum wage. ‘My view is no. My view is a federal minimum wage is a terrible idea, and will damage, in particular, small businesses,’ he said when asked about the prospect at a Washington Post event. Democrats have pushed for increasing the federal minimum wage to as much as $15 an hour, over double its current rate of $7.25.” [Hill, 11/01/18]
Kudlow Opposed The Federal Minimum Wage Because State And Local Economies Would Not Work With A One-Size-Fits All Approach. According to The Hill, “Kudlow said he opposed the federal minimum wage because state and local economies were so varied that a one-size-fits all approach would not work, but he also said that he opposed minimum wages at the state and local level.” [Hill, 11/01/18]
Kudlow Favored A Cut To Corporate Taxes To Help Workers. According to The Hill, “Kudlow argued that the best way to help ordinary workers was to cut corporate taxes. Workers’ wages have remained largely stagnant in recent years, though monthly wage data spiked in the last quarter, according to new government data.” [Hill, 11/01/18]
Former Labor Nominee Andy Puzder Claimed A $15 Federal Minimum Wage Would Reduce Family Income. In a Fox News op-ed Andy Puzder wrote, “Notwithstanding these wage increases, CBO found that a $15 federal minimum wage would reduce family incomes $8.7 billion by 2025. This reduction would result from higher rates of joblessness, price increases for consumers, and reduced economic output (growth) all offsetting wage gains. While individuals below the poverty line would see their family incomes increase by $7.7 billion, families above the poverty line would see a decline of about $16.3 billion, or $8.7 billion more than the benefit for lower income families.” [Fox News, 7/17/19]
NYT Editorial Board: What Donald Trump Doesn’t Get About The Minimum Wage. [New York Times Editorial, 2/2/17]
In His 2020 State Of The Union Trump Noted That Wages Were Rising Fastest For Low-Income Workers But Failed To Mention That The Rise Was Due In Large Part To Minimum Wage Increases At The State Level. According to USA Today, “In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Trump touted a ‘blue collar boom,’ noting that wages ‘are rising fastest for low-income workers.’ He’s correct, but Trump left out one thing: a large portion of those gains can be traced to minimum wage increases in more than half the states. The median wage for the bottom fifth of workers has climbed much more sharply in states that have raised their pay floors than in states that haven’t, according to a study provided exclusively to USA TODAY by the National Employment Law Project (NELP).” [USA Today, 2/7/20]
Former Trump Economic Advisers Gary Cohn And Kevin Hassett Argued That Trump’s Tax Cuts Led To Increased Wages But Data Suggested Increased Minimum Wages Was Also A Significant Factor. According to Washington Post, “Last week, Gary Cohn, former director of President Trump’s National Economic Council, and Kevin Hassett, former chairman of the Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed making the case that Trump’s tax cuts paved the way for rising wages for those in lower-paying jobs. The November unemployment rate was at its lowest since 1969, at 3.5 percent, according to the Labor Department. Competition for workers at all levels, including low-skilled ones, has intensified. But can it really be a coincidence that the boom in wage growth came at a time when around half the states raised their minimum wage? The data suggests that changes to minimum wage laws also played a role.” [Washington Post, 1/2/20]
Economists Said Higher Minimum Wages Had A Clear Influence On Wage Growth. According to Washington Post, “But the influence of a higher minimum wage on low-wage workers is clear, economists say, even if its magnitude can be hard to measure. ‘This suggests that the minimum wage has been a factor, though not the primary factor, behind wage growth at the lower end,’ said economist Jeffrey Clemens of the University of California at San Diego, who has been more skeptical of the benefits of a higher minimum wage than some of his peers.” [Washington Post, 1/2/20]
May 2017-May 2018: Real Wages Increased 2.4% For The Bottom Fifth Of Workers In States That Increased Minimum Wage. According to USA Today, “That trend appeared to continue in Trump’s administration. From May 2017 to May 2018, the latest data available, real wages rose 2.4% for the bottom fifth of workers in states with minimum wage increases versus 0.26% for such workers in states that kept their pay floors unchanged.” [USA Today, 2/7/20]
Analysis Suggested That Wages Increased In Part Due To A Nationwide Movement To Increase Minimum Wages At The State And Local Level. According to Washington Post, “The Trump White House and Washington policymakers have touted the tight labor market as the main engine driving gains for the working class, but a Washington Post analysis of Labor Department data suggests that paychecks also grew because of a nationwide movement of rising minimum wages in various states and cities over the past couple of years.” [Washington Post, 1/2/20]