Through the NLRB and other related federal agencies, the Trump Administration is reversing and dropping policy and legal positions that the Biden Administration took in support of unions and Big Labor.

The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) General Counsel William Cowen has issued directions to loosen requirements for approval of settlements between it and employers for alleged unfair labor practices (ULP). This reverses the previous NLRB General Counsel’s position that Board officials should take a hard line toward employers in settlement talks around resolving ULP’s.

Trump’s NLRB General Counsel told his regional officials to “continue to pursue settlements that deliver full, effective relief to those whose rights have been violated” but “be mindful of not allowing our remedial enthusiasm to distract us from achieving a prompt and fair resolution of disputed matters.” Previously, Biden’s NLRB General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, sought “full remedies” in settlements.

In a second action recently taken by the NLRB, prosecutors dropped pursuit of a case that would have made it harder for an employer to withhold financial information from a union during negotiations. The Biden era NLRB prosecutors argued for expanding the circumstances whereby employers had to provide financial data to unions during contract negotiations.

Trump NLRB prosecutors have informed the Board they are no longer trying to overturn a case called Arlington Metals. This case was being challenged by the Biden Administration’s NLRB prosecutor to, in their view, provide for a fairer standard for financial record disclosure that would “better serve the central purpose of the National Labor Relations Act.” The case being dropped is United Mine Workers and Warrior Met Coal. It challenges this Trump-era decision. This leaves the Arlington Metals case in place and in turn a lower standard for an employer to meet in order to withhold financial information from unions.

In a recent third challenge to Biden era labor policy and law, the Trump administration asked a federal judge in the District of Columbia to throw out a lawsuit challenging some of the Administration’s federal downsizing initiatives to some labor Agencies. Three cases arose from the employment terminations of federal workers under the DOGE government cost cutting initiatives. The lawsuits challenging these actions were brought by unions in federal court. Unions for the terminated federal workers have argued President Trump does not have the authority to implement those reductions in force. The Trump Administration argues the Federal Labor Relations Authority is the proper forum for this dispute not the federal courts at this point. The Trump Administration attorneys argue that the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Act remedy is there to “adjudicate the legality of federal employment actions that is an adequate alternative” to the lawsuit.

All three of the above actions came down earlier this month and seems to indicate that despite the more labor friendly Labor Secretary pick it made, the Trump Administration is starting to engage in more employer friendly labor policy and practice actions.

Sources:

Law 360 Employment Authority

Employers Expect NLRB GC Memo To Ease Settlement Talks. (5/19/2025)

NRLB Attorneys Drop Push For Changing in Disclosure Standard (5/19/2025)

Feds Say Unions’ Downsizing Suit Should Be Tossed (5/19/2025)