The Biden administration, led by Vice President Kamala Harris, has embraced a new plan that would make Big Labor a key player in virtually every federal agency in a bid to revive fading labor unions, the Democratic Party’s favorite election partner.
In sharing the keys to the federal government with the AFL-CIO and other labor groups, a new report from Harris and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said that boosting union membership to about 70 million, or more than half of the nation’s total, full-time, adult workforce, is the goal.
Across dozens of pages and some 70 recommendations, Harris’s task force vowed to open the door fully to union organizing in every corner of life and block efforts by private companies to remain union-free.
“Our goal is not just to facilitate worker power through executive action — it is to model practices that can be followed by state and local governments, private sector employers, and others,” said the newly released report from the White House Task Force On Worker Organizing and Empowerment.
“President Biden and Vice President Harris recognize that urgent action is needed. Workers face increasing barriers to organizing and bargaining collectively with their employers, and in 2021, only 10.3% of the workforce was represented by a union, down from more than 30% in the 1950s,” said the report.
It cited polling showing that workers, especially minorities, want a union. “If all these workers had the union representation that they say they want, union membership would be four to five times higher than it is right now,” said the report.
Union membership is about 14 million today. Increasing that five times would boost membership to about 71 million, more than half of the full-time workforce of 130 million and nearly half of all 157 million working adults.
In becoming a model partner, the report said that the government should go so far as to promote unions and distribute pro-union material.
The report said the administration wants unions as a partner in its liberal social agenda.
“Whether it is fighting COVID-19; advancing social and economic equity for underserved communities; tackling climate change and building a modern, sustainable economy; or protecting our democracy, we need a vibrant labor movement,” it said.
It has already drawn fire from outside groups and private employers upset that tax dollars would be used to push unions.
For example, Associated Builders and Contractors said added union costs will push prices up, cut competition, and discriminate against those who aren’t pro-union.
“The report’s recommendations to expand the use of anti-competitive and costly project labor agreements will increase infrastructure project costs by 12% to 20%, reduce competition from the best quality public works contractors and exacerbate the construction industry’s skilled labor shortage by discriminating against the nearly 9 out of 10 members of the construction workforce who choose to be union-free,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC’s vice president of regulatory, labor, and state affairs, in a statement.
