> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.workersrights.news/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Trump's Labor Department is stepping back from enforcing wage , safety, and child labor laws at union jobs.
- URL: https://www.workersrights.news/labor-department-backs-off-enforcement-union-workplaces/
- Published: 2026-10-18T15:20:46.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-18T15:20:46.000Z
- Description: DOL's top lawyer says it will "disfavor" wage, child labor, and safety enforcement where a union contract exists, leaving it to the union to fend for itself..
- Author: WorkersRights.News Team
- Tags: Legal News, Economy

The Labor Department's top lawyer says the agency should mostly stay out of unionized workplaces when it comes to enforcing wage, child labor, and safety laws. Union members who get shorted on overtime or work around hazards would be expected to take it up with their union first.

Labor Solicitor Jonathan Berry made the case Thursday, Oct. 15, at New York University's labor and employment law conference, Bloomberg Law reported. The department should "disfavor pursuing enforcement in workplaces covered by collective bargaining agreements," he said. When workers have chosen a union, "the department should respect that choice and prioritize using its scarce enforcement resources elsewhere."

### Where this came from

Berry put the policy in writing in February. A Feb. 26 memo to the department's regional attorneys, titled "Enforcement Priorities to Protect the American Worker and Those Who Depend on Him," says the department will "disfavor pursuing enforcement in workplaces covered by collective bargaining agreements that provide adequate and regularly implemented remedies," according to *Confined Space*, the workplace-safety site run by former OSHA official Jordan Barab, and the management-side law firm Fisher Phillips. The memo reasons that "unions are better situated on the ground to evaluate and rectify harms to workers," Bloomberg Law reported.

The memo covers wage-and-hour, child labor, and worker safety enforcement, according to Bloomberg Law. It says enforcement should focus on large employers with "market power," repeat violators, and trafficking cases, along with more "compliance assistance" for businesses.

Berry is the Senate-confirmed Solicitor of Labor, the department's chief lawyer. He wrote the labor chapter of Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's policy plan for a second Trump term.

### The exceptions

The hands-off approach is suspended if there is "credible evidence that the union is not fairly representing workers," Berry said Thursday, or if a contract's remedies are "insufficient in that particular case." Barab reads the memo to mean the department will still respond to deaths, catastrophes, imminent dangers, and complaints, while skipping the planned inspections it would otherwise schedule at union sites.

### Who wins, who loses

Employers with union contracts get one less federal agency looking over their shoulder. Union members and their locals pick up the work the government is dropping.

That's a real shift. A union grievance is a contract process: the union files it, negotiates, and may take it to an arbitrator. A Labor Department case can bring back pay for a whole workforce, civil penalties, and court orders. Grievance procedures also run on union budgets and deadlines set in the contract. A small local may not have the lawyers or the time to chase a wage-theft scheme across hundreds of workers.

Safety is where the gap is widest. Under the federal minimum wage and overtime law, the Fair Labor Standards Act, workers can sue their employer themselves for unpaid wages ([29 U.S.C. § 216(b)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/216?ref=workersrights.news)). The Occupational Safety and Health Act has no similar provision letting workers sue over hazards. Enforcement is the government's job, so when the government steps back, there is no one else with that power.

Berry also said the department is finalizing a rule on independent contractor status, which he called its "most foundational" rulemaking priority. That rule decides who counts as an employee covered by wage laws at all.

We condemn a policy that leaves union members with less federal protection than workers who never organized.

### What to do if it's you

If you're a union member and your employer is cheating you on pay or putting you in danger, file a grievance and put it in writing to your steward. You can still file a complaint with the Labor Department's [Wage and Hour Division](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/contact/complaints?ref=workersrights.news) or with OSHA, and if your union isn't pursuing your claim, say so in the complaint. That is the exception Berry's own policy recognizes. Wage claims under the FLSA generally must be brought within two years, or three for willful violations, so don't wait.

### Sources

- [Bloomberg Law: Labor Solicitor Doubles Down on Bypassing Unionized Workplaces (Oct. 15, 2026)](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/labor-solicitor-doubles-down-on-bypassing-unionized-workplaces?ref=workersrights.news)
- [Bloomberg Law: Top DOL Lawyer Urges Relaxed Enforcement in Unionized Workplaces (Feb. 27, 2026)](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/top-dol-lawyer-urges-relaxed-enforcement-in-union-workplaces?ref=workersrights.news)
- [OnLabor: News & Commentary, Oct. 16, 2026](https://onlabor.org/october-16-2026/?ref=workersrights.news)
- [Confined Space (Jordan Barab): New DOL Enforcement Memo Details Where Not to Enforce](https://jordanbarab.com/confinedspace/2026/03/11/enforcement-memo/?ref=workersrights.news)
- [Fisher Phillips: DOL General Counsel Directs Enforcement Away From Unionized Workplaces](https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/insights/insights/dol-general-counsel-directs-enforcement-away-from-unionized-workplaces-vows-max-compliance-assistance?ref=workersrights.news)
- [Law360: DOL Solicitor Talks Wage-Hour Successes 1 Year Into Job](https://www.law360.com/articles/2538470/dol-solicitor-talks-wage-hour-successes-1-year-into-job?ref=workersrights.news)
- [Cornell Law School LII: 29 U.S.C. § 216 (FLSA penalties and private right of action)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/216?ref=workersrights.news)
- [Cornell Law School LII: 29 U.S.C. § 255 (FLSA statute of limitations)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/255?ref=workersrights.news)
- [U.S. Department of Labor: How to File a Complaint (Wage and Hour Division)](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/contact/complaints?ref=workersrights.news)