‘Almost all worker protections you can think of are threatened’: Donald Trump’s potential second presidency could catastrophically doom laborers’ rights

Attorney Brian Petruska warned The Huffington Post that a second Donald Trump presidency could deal a devastating blow to workers’ rights and labor protections in the United States: “The changes—not to engage in hyperbole—are potentially catastrophic. Almost all worker protections you can think of are threatened.”

“We’re looking at going back to pre-1930s labor law in this country,” claimed Petruska, an attorney for the Laborers’ International Union of North America. “I’m not exaggerating. That’s literally what’s happening.”

Trump’s first term already saw significant rollbacks of Obama-era labor policies through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). A Republican-controlled NLRB under Trump reversed key decisions that expanded worker and union rights during President Obama’s administration. These decisions included making it easier for smaller groups to unionize, speeding up the union election process, and holding parent companies accountable for labor violations by contractors and franchisees.

If re-elected, according to Petruska, Trump would likely appoint an anti-worker general counsel to lead the NLRB, replacing Biden’s highly consequential pro-labor appointee, Jennifer Abruzzo. This would halt and reverse the agency’s recent worker-friendly reforms. Trump could also flip control of the NLRB’s five-member board to Republicans as terms expire, enabling further erosion of labor protections.

Beyond staffing changes, Trump and Congressional Republicans may attempt to slash the NLRB’s budget and let the agency wither, as occurred in his first term. This would cripple the enforcement of existing labor laws/protections and leave workers more vulnerable to exploitation.

Perhaps most alarmingly, Trump-appointed federal judges are already receptive to constitutional challenges against the NLRB’s structure brought by companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX. With conservatives holding a 6-3 Supreme Court majority, shaped by Trump, there is a legitimate possibility the Court could eventually rule the entire agency unconstitutional—erasing nearly a century of labor law precedent and overhauling any concept of work fairness.

This anti-worker agenda aligns with the goals of conservative think tanks and corporate interests, including Musk, who have long sought to weaken unions and worker protections in whatever ways possible under the law—the magic key. Whatever changes they seek need to be made under the guise of legitimacy. A second Trump term, backed by a Republican-friendly Supreme Court, would be an absolute disaster. It could finally allow them to achieve their vision of gutting labor rights through feigned legality.

Another four years of Trump could mean dismantling decades of hard-won protections. As union membership has declined, so have the wages of average workers relative to the wealthy. Further eroding labor rights accelerates this dangerous trend. It would exacerbate inequality, reduce worker safety, and leave workers with little to no recourse against unfair treatment by emboldened corporations salivating at the chance to violently squeeze more profit out of each employee.