CPAW Senior Advisor Gene Hamilton: Union Leaders Have “Lost Their Way,” Calls For Worker-First Reforms On Mackinac Center’s Overton Window Podcast

Washington, D.C. — Gene Hamilton, former Deputy White House Counsel to President Donald J. Trump, President and Co-Founder of America First Legal, and Senior Advisor to the Coalition to Protect American Workers (CPAW), underscored the need to put workers—not union power brokers—at the center of U.S. labor policy during an appearance on The Overton Window podcast hosted by the Mackinac Center.

“The American worker is actually popular…on the flip side, the support for union leadership…is really not that great. And that’s across the political spectrum,” Hamilton said, noting the broad, bipartisan appeal of pro-worker policies.

Hamilton criticized national union leadership for prioritizing politics over members: “The leadership of these unions have lost their way. They’ve gone from advocating for workers…and have moved to a sort of subscription model that empowers the union to use that money for their political friends.” He added, “At least two of the major unions out there gave 99% of their political contributions to the Democratic candidate for the president.”

Hamilton argues that unions have a fiduciary duty to their members—and are failing to meet it. “Everyone wants better pay. Everyone wants better working conditions. But [unions are] in fact adopting these kind of radical positions and doing things that are undercutting their workforce, and that serves nobody’s interest.”

Addressing the new package of bills introduced by the Senate HELP majority, Hamilton said the proposals acknowledge that protecting American workers is both good policy and broadly popular. He emphasized the upside of modernizing labor law to empower workers directly: “[Workers] can decide in secret, like we do on Election Day…whether or not they want to be members of a bargaining unit. Whether they actually want union representation…There are a lot of structural changes that are recognized in this legislation that could be advantageous to the world.”

The Coalition to Protect American Workers (CPAW) advances policies that grow paychecks, expand opportunity, and strengthen the dignity of work for every American. CPAW advocates for commonsense reforms that prioritize workers over politics and special interests.

###

Media Contact press@coalitiontoprotectamericanworkers.com