What Does Alexander Acosta Think About Unions? Trump Labor Secretary Pick's Hearing Starts Wednesday

Alexander Acosta, a conservative Florida International law school dean, is scheduled to attend a confirmation hearing Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill as President Donald Trump's second choice to head the Labor Department. The Cuban-American is markedly different from Trump’s other picks and not just because he would represent the cabinet's only Hispanic. Acosta's net worth is far below the millionaires and billionaires of his would-be Cabinet colleagues and he has several years of public service experience.

Trump’s first pick, Andy Puzder, ended up withdrawing in February after his nomination grew increasingly mired in controversy due to domestic abuse allegations and the revelation that he had hired an undocumented housemaid, among other reasons. Unions were expectedly disappointed with Puzder considering the fast-food CEO had openly discussed replacing workers with robots.

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Acosta hasn’t attracted close to the same vitriol as Puzder and has even picked up a handful of endorsements from a few unions.

"Mr. Acosta has proven that he can handle disparate opinions and information in order to make thoughtful decisions on difficult issues,” James Callahan, president of The International Union of Operating Engineers, told conservative news outlet the Washington Examiner. “These qualities are essential to lead an agency that is tasked with such things as protecting workers from wage theft to enforcing standards that keep them safe on the job."

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Acosta worked on the National Relations Board for about a year in 2002 and 2003 and participated in more than 125 opinions. That doesn’t necessarily mean he is sympathetic to unions—the NLRB is an independent U.S. government agency that enforces labor law, and it certainly doesn’t always side with unions—but it does mean that Acosta at least has a strong grasp on labor.

“Things were a lot clearer with Mr. Puzder,” said Kendall Fells, a national organizing director of the Fight for $15, an advocacy group that stand for a higher minimum wage. “Workers have a list of questions they want to ask Mr. Acosta.”

Acosta can expect a more esoteric line of questioning like where he stands on federal minimum wage laws. Democratic lawmakers will likely prod him on his views on overtime regulations and labor policy issues.

In a 23-page letter, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts asked Acosta if he thinks Trump should completely cut ties from the Trump Organization and asked about his views overtime rules.

"I am very concerned about the possibility that you will simply fall in line with President Trump's anti-worker statements and policies, which would be disastrous for the millions of American workers who rely on the Department of Labor's enforcement of labor law," Warren wrote.