The Economic Policy Institute has launched a new project to track the Trump administration’s wage, labor, and employment policies, and hold them accountable for their record. Led by former Department of Labor Chief Economist Heidi Shierholz, the Perkins Project on Worker Rights and Wages will document and fight any attempts to dismantle the laws and regulations that protect and defend American workers.

“President Trump promised to fight for working people, but with his nominees and policy proposals, he’s signaling that he is gearing up to do the opposite,” said Shierholz. “This Perkins Project is committed to holding the new administration accountable for how its policies impact the lives and livelihoods of U.S workers.”

As the new administration takes charge at the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and other agencies that defend workers’ rights, wages, and working conditions, Perkins Project experts will closely monitor these agencies to ensure that they are living up to their missions under new leadership.

“The Labor Department has traditionally served to defend and promote this nation’s workforce.  It remains to be seen if the new leadership will continue to champion this mission,” said EPI Labor Counsel Celine McNicholas. “If President Trump is serious about the commitments he made to working people, he will ensure that the agencies responsible for enforcing the laws that defend this nation’s workers continue unhindered in their critical work.”

The Perkins Project will also track legislation that impacts working people, provide analysis, and assess whether a legislative initiative is good for U.S. workers or instead simply further enriches big businesses and their CEOs and shareholders.

The Perkins Project is named for Frances Perkins, Labor Secretary under FDR and one of the principal architects of the New Deal. Like Frances Perkins, EPI’s Perkins Project staff will fight tirelessly for an economy that works for everyone.