Washington, D.C. — This year, workers across the country, from autoworkers to health care workers to baristas, are asserting their right to form unions. As workers assert their right to form unions, it’s no surprise that support for unions among the American public in recent years is the highest it has been in decades. A new column from the Center for American Progress Action Fund examines eight ways in which President Joe Biden and his administration are supporting strong unions:
- Supporting workers on the picket line. President Biden made history this fall as the first sitting president to visit members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union on the picket line in Michigan during the union’s strike against Ford, GM, and Stellantis. In stark contrast, former President Donald Trump visited a nearby nonunion facility during the strike and pushed UAW members to endorse him rather than endorsing their demands.
- Investing in good union jobs. At the heart of the Biden administration’s signature economic investments is a commitment to create high-quality jobs and support workplace equity, with standards and incentives written into competitive grants and spending programs across the federal government.
- Making lawbreaking corporations play by the rules. Biden appointees to the U.S. Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) are modernizing regulations and strengthening enforcement so that workers know their rights and can hold accountable corporations that violate their rights.
- Giving contract workers a raise and better jobs. The Biden administration improved the lives of millions of workers whose jobs are funded through contracting by updating Davis-Bacon prevailing wage standards, supporting stability for service workers when contracts are rebid, and raising the contractor minimum wage to $15 per hour and indexing it to inflation.
- Taking an all-of-government approach to supporting worker organizing. President Biden’s White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment has issued nearly 70 recommendations in strengthening worker organizing.
- Increasing funds to uphold workers’ rights. President Biden signed into law an omnibus spending bill last winter that added $25 million in additional funds to help support the NLRB’s enforcement actions and builds agency capacity to oversee more elections as workers fight to unionize.
- Giving fast-food and other workers a voice on the job. President Biden’s NLRB appointees have adopted “joint employer” rules to help hold large corporations accountable when they violate the right of workers to come together in unions or speak up against unfair working conditions.
- Rebuilding federal employee unions. President Biden signed an executive order empowering federal workers to come together in unions and rebuilding civil service protections after years of Trump administration actions that undermined federal workers’ and government’s ability to provide high-quality services.
“President Biden is the most pro-union president in history,” said David Madland, senior fellow and senior adviser to the American Worker Project at CAP Action. “His track record of putting unions and workers first speaks for itself.”
“While congressional Republicans try to advance measures that undermine workers’ essential right to come together in strong unions, President Biden is doing everything in his power to ensure workers have the tools and resources they need as they advocate for their rights,” said Karla Walter, senior director of the American Worker Project at CAP Action.
Read the column: “8 Ways the Biden Administration Has Fought for Working People by Strengthening Unions” by Karla Walter and David Madland
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, please contact Sarah Nadeau at [email protected].