Vice’s Motherboard writer: Biden adviser pick ‘should have no place’ in a ‘pro-labor’ administration

Edward Ongweso Jr., a staff writer at Vice’s Motherboard, said Tuesday that Seth Harris, President Biden’s choice to serve as labor adviser, “should have no place” in an administration branding itself as the “most pro-labor” in history.

Ongweso told Hill.TV’s “Rising” that Harris, who served as the acting and deputy secretary of Labor under former President Obama, appears like a “good pick” due to his past positions. 

But Ongweso, who covers tech and labor, noted that Harris “helped craft the inspiration” for Proposition 22, the initiative approved in California last year that exempts gig companies from providing benefits for employees like minimum wage, health care and the right to organize. 

He said Harris “helped formalize this concept of a third category of worker, which is a hybrid between an employee and independent contractor, so you get none of the projections of employee status and all of the exploitation of independent contractors essentially.”

“The stuff that he’s helped come up with has been a huge blow to U.S. labor law over the past few years,” he said. 

“I mean this is someone who really should have no place in an administration that’s hyping itself up as the most pro-labor administration in U.S. history,” Ongweso added.