National news organizations are turning to the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR) to inform their coverage of the Trump Administration’s labor policy.
In recent interviews and op-eds, seven faculty members in SMLR’s Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations have discussed what the nation’s changing political landscape could mean for collective bargaining, healthcare, labor unions, minimum wage earners, worker protections, and more.
"It's going to be the most challenging period for organized labor since the 1930s," Professor Susan Schurman told Bankrate.com in a far-ranging article published on January 17 and carried nationally by FOX Business. 
Associate Professor Janice Fine talked to The Atlantic about the possibility of states stepping up to protect workers if the federal government fails to do so, and she spoke to the New York Times about President Trump’s potential impact on the Fight for $15 minimum wage campaign.
Fine, who authored a recent opinion piece for the Boston Review, also appeared in a Boston Globe article about the alt-labor movement and a Buzzfeed story about union funding cuts in the wake of the election.
Associate Professor Becky Givan, author of the recently published book The Challenge to Change: Reforming Health Care on the Front Line in the United States and the United Kingdom, wrote an op-ed for STAT News in which she argued that President Trump and Congress should consult healthcare workers before repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Bloomberg BNA’s Daily Labor Report, a must-read for labor and employment professionals, has featured several SMLR faculty members in recent weeks:
- Associate Dean Adrienne Eaton discussed union concerns about the repeal of the ACA and the uncertain future of recently-passed overtime rule changes;
- Professor David Bensman expressed doubt that lawmakers, unions, and the construction industry will agree on President Trump’s infrastructure spending plan;
- Professor Schurman noted that Trump’s pick for Labor Secretary raises questions about the direction of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs;
- Teaching Instructor Will Brucher examined divided union support in the hotly-contested race for the Democratic National Committee chairmanship; and
- Professor Charles Heckscher suggested that organized labor may need to compensate for lost power by forming alliances with consumer groups.
Heckscher also authored a hot-button op-ed for New Jersey’s largest newspaper, the Star-Ledger, in which he opined on Trump’s rise to power.
