WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., started his questioning of President Donald Trump’s pick for labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, by asking for a guarantee that Alabama can continue to be a right-to-work state.
Chavez-DeRemer is a former Republican House member and Oregon mayor. She supported the Protecting the Right to Organize Act that would have expanded employees’ rights to organize. The legislation also would have overturned state right-to-work laws that allow workers to choose if they want to join a union and pay dues. Chavez-DeRemer is a daughter of a Teamsters member.
Chavez-DeRemer appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Wednesday for a confirmation hearing. Tuberville said his constituents wanted to know if she would change Alabama’s status as a right-to-work state.
“I respect the fact that you are from a right-to-work state, and I respect the fact that you can continue to be a right-to-work state,” Chavez-DeRemer said.
Tuberville also mentioned an amendment he offered on the PRO Act that would have required unions to get authorization from employees if their dues would be used for political campaigns. He asked how she would handle that issue.
“They should be aware of where their dues are going,” Chavez-DeRemer said.
Republicans pressed Chavez-DeRemer about her previous support of the PRO Act and asked about her current views on it during the hearing.
“So you no longer support the aspect of the PRO Act that would have overturned state right-to-work laws?” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, asked.
“Yes,” Chavez-DeRemer said.
Tuberville again referenced his constituents’ questions for Chavez-DeRemer when he asked about her past work at Planned Parenthood and her current stance on abortion.
“(Are) you pro-life or pro-choice?” Tuberville asked.
She said she supports the President’s agenda and has a “100 percent pro-life voting record” while in Congress.
The senator asked Chavez-DeRemer about her thoughts on legal immigration, specifically for engineers and tech workers.
“We have the most engineers in the country in the state of Alabama because of NASA and defense contractors and all those things,” Tuberville said. “We’re running short on a lot of engineers, high tech people that are well trained in our country. For some reason we’re running short because Big Tech is growing.”
Tuberville said eventually more people are going to have to come to the United States to help fill those jobs.
Chavez-DeRemer said she doesn’t want to “replace the American worker” but would be open to exploring the guest worker program and what sectors might need workers from that program. She said she would work with Tuberville’s office on the issue.
Tuberville ended his questioning by talking about name, image, and likeness (NIL) calling it a “disaster.”
“I’m all for kids making money, but it is a workforce,” Tuberville said. “It needs to be changed. It needs to be regulated to a point where (..) all young men and women can have a chance to make money.”
The HELP Committee has not scheduled a committee vote on Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination yet.