From paid leave to minimum wage, here is where Donald Trump and Kamala Harris stand on labor issues - so far.
August 16, 2024 - HR Dive
By Caroline Colvin
As the 2024 presidential campaign heats up, the candidates' platforms are beginning to emerge — and there's no shortage of policy stances that affect employers.
Below is a look at where former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris — and, in some cases, their respective running mates, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — stand on labor issues.
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Donald Trump
Trump prohibited some diversity and inclusion trainings for the federal workforce and employees of federal contractors during his time in office.
Kamala Harris
Harris’ legislative history offers little insight into her stance on workplace DEI initiatives but as governor of Minnesota, running mate Walz has voiced support for diversity efforts generally. He also signed a state pay transparency mandate into law — a move often aimed at improving pay equity.
Donald Trump
Trump has long taken anti-immigration stances and, as president, took steps to restrict immigration to the U.S. At the time, employers expressed frustration that the moves could impede hiring efforts.
Trump’s running mate, Vance, said in a recent interview that “the trade issue and the immigration issue are two sides of the same coin,” positing that trade leads to outsourcing and immigration leads to “cheaper labor at home, which applies upward pressure on a whole host of services, from hospital services to housing and so forth.”
Kamala Harris
Harris has indicated she’ll be tough on border security but has also worked to address “the root causes of migration” from Northern Central America alongside private-sector partners like Duolingo, Mastercard, Meta, Microsoft and PepsiCo.
As California’s attorney general, Harris focused on transnational criminal organizations, taking a crime-centered approach to immigration policy that she highlighted at her July rally in Atlanta. As San Francisco district attorney, she worked to crack down on wage theft affecting immigrant workers.
Donald Trump
Trump has pinned most of his job creation plans on manufacturing — a move economists say drove little success during his time in office.
Kamala Harris
Harris’ stance on job creation remains largely undefined. In Minnesota, Walz banked on construction and renovation projects to create jobs in the aftermath of the pandemic, but the state lagged behind national numbers.
Donald Trump
Trump in his first presidential campaign found some support from union workers but labor organizations such as the AFL-CIO have said his term in the White House failed to deliver on his promises. Still, in a move that was surprising to many, Teamsters president Sean O’Brien spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
During Trump’s time in office, the National Labor Relations Board took steps to reduce workers' organizing rights and made it easier for employers to get rid of unions.
Vance co-sponsored the Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 2024 earlier this year. The objective, per a press release, is to “give employees a voluntary opportunity to negotiate with employers on their own terms and without fear of legal action or bureaucratic meddling.”
Kamala Harris
Several union leaders have endorsed Harris. The United Auto Workers union, for example, backed her in July, later slamming Trump in August as “all talk.” And her pick for vice president, a former teacher, drew public support from the American Federation of Teachers.
Walz’ legislative history also indicates support for organized labor and expanded workers’ rights: The same state-wide bill that mandated paid family and medical leave for Minnesotans also banned non-compete agreements and barred captive audience meetings.
Donald Trump
Trump voiced support for a $10 minimum wage during his 2016 presidential campaign, and in a later interview said he would consider a $15 minimum. He appeared to walk back that support in a 2020 debate, however, suggesting such increases would hurt small businesses.
Kamala Harris
Harris voiced support for raising the federal minimum wage at an Aug. 10 rally.
Donald Trump
As president, Trump proposed a budget that would have required states to fund six weeks’ paid leave for new parents through unemployment insurance programs.
Kamala Harris
Harris’ running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has suggested paid family and medical leave be the first thing Democrats do if they win the White House and control of Congress in the 2024 election. He has long supported paid leave, signing into law a Minnesota bill that will provide paid family and medical leave to most workers in the state come 2026.
Harris voiced support for six months’ paid family leave in 2019 and her legislative history indicates strong support for a mandate.