Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have promised to make life better for workers if elected. But the presidential candidates’ positions on many issues affecting workers, including minimum wage, overtime pay and the power of unions, are miles apart.

Here are five key issues that distinguish candidates from others:

1. Minimum wage

federal minimum wage Set at $7.25 One hour since 2009. Harris called it “poverty wages,” noting that for full-time employees, this amounts to $15,000 per year. he told NBC News He wanted to raise that wage to at least $15 an hour, acknowledging that he would need Congressional support for the change.

During a presidential debate four years ago, Trump says he would consider $15 hourly federal minimum wageUnless it hurts small businesses. Last month, during a photo shoot at McDonald’s, the former president dodged a question about whether he would support raising the minimum wage. praising workers and franchisees instead who employs them.

2. Overtime pay

Many Americans are working overtime, and both candidates appear to acknowledge that. However, there are differing opinions on who is entitled to receive half-time pay for working more than 40 hours a week.

Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris administration finalized a rule 4 million workers are entitled to more overtime pay. The rule is this: facing multiple legal challenges.

As president, Trump refused to advocate a similar approach Obama era rulein its place declares his own rule This resulted in far fewer people being eligible for overtime pay.

Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s plan for Trump’s second presidency, proposes an overhaul of federal overtime rules that would give employers more flexibility.

Trump has he tried to get away from himself from the document. But at campaign events this fall, he admitted that as a private-sector employer, he hates paying overtime and sometimes hires more workers to avoid it.

“I’d say, ‘No, find me 10 more guys. I don’t want to have an hour and a half.'” Trump said in Saginaw, Michigan.On October 3.

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign visit to Drake Enterprises, an automotive parts manufacturer in Clinton Township, Michigan, on September 27, 2023.

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Still, Trump has tried to use the issue to win over working-class voters by introducing a proposal that would make overtime pay tax-free. Many policy analysts opposed this idea, finding out it could cost the government more than $1 trillion tax revenues in the next decade

On a side note, Trump and then Harris offered get rid of taxes on tips. The Yale Budget Lab estimates that even this more limited action would significantly increase the budget deficit. deepening inequalities.

3. Creating employment in production

It is clear that no president can bring back America’s manufacturing glory of yesteryear. But Trump was able to win over many white, working-class voters by promising to bring back and protect manufacturing jobs. lowering the corporate tax rate for domestic producers and imposing customs duties on all imported goods.

But economists have warned that Trump’s proposed tariffs would lead to higher prices everywhere, including for U.S. producers.

Harris is trying to recapture those votes. He points to legislative gains over the past four years, including the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which created manufacturing and construction jobs. HE Pledges to expand tax credits for companies that create union jobs It operates in steel, iron and other manufacturing fields and prioritizes the reorganization of existing facilities in factory cities.

Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Hemlock Semiconductor during a campaign stop in Saginaw, Michigan, on October 28, 2024.

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Both candidates said they would eliminate regulatory burdens on manufacturers, allowing them to build new factories more quickly.

4. Labor unions

Perhaps the point where the two candidates differ the most is their perspective on unions.

Harris wants to strengthen unions and has promised to pass the PRO Act. The law, which aims to make it easier for workers to organize, has been pending in Congress for years. He called on the federal government to be a model employer, By giving federal employee unions a larger seat at the table and directing agencies to make sure their employees know they have the right to join a union.

Under the Biden-Harris administration, the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that hears labor disputes, has taken an aggressive approach to protecting workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain. Critics argue that the agency’s interpretation of these rights is overly broad. Many companies, including SpaceX and Amazon, we filed lawsuits It challenges the constitutionality of the NLRB’s existence.

In contrast, when I was in the White House, Trump gutted federal worker unions and expressed support for Right to Work laws that weaken unions by allowing workers to avoid paying union dues. He filled the Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board with company-friendly appointees. Project 2025 details further steps it could take to disempower unions.

One Interview with Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla In August, Trump joked that he liked Musk’s approach to workers. “They go on strike and you say, ‘No problem, you’re all gone.’ You are all gone. Every single one of you is gone,” Trump said.

Still, the former president maintains strong support among some union workers. In an informal vote conducted by Teamsters union This summer, Teamsters members said they favored Trump over Harris by a 2-to-1 margin.

5. Doesn’t Compete

Non-compete agreements that prevent workers from taking a job at a rival business or starting their own businesses have not been a hot topic in the presidential race. Still, the future of these employment provisions may depend on who wins the election.

An estimated 30 million Americans have signed non-compete agreements with their employers. The Federal Trade Commission voted along party lines in April to ban such deals, finding that they suppress wages and stifle innovation.

The ban faced immediate legal challenges and a Trump appointee in August Federal judge in Texas blocks rule will come into force nationwide. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown ruled in favor of Ryan LLC, a tax services firm in Dallas, finding that the FTC had indeed overstepped its authority.

The FTC appealed the decision.

While non-competes were not an issue Harris talked about on the campaign trail, she has previously voiced support for the FTC’s ban. describes such agreements as “anti-worker”.

Trump also did not address those who did not compete in his campaign.

Specifically, attorneys representing Ryan LLC in its lawsuit against the FTC include: Eugene ScaliaHe served as Trump’s labor secretary from 2019 to 2021.

And in 2016, Politico reported The Trump campaign includes a broad non-compete clause in its employment agreements and prohibits staff, volunteers, contractors and contractor employees from working with any other presidential campaign during the election.