Biden Calls Tentative Railway Deal ‘A Big Win for America’
Biden Task Force Releases Report to Strengthen Labor Unions
February 7, 2022by Josh Boak, Associated Press
A Biden administration task force on organized labor on Monday issued a set of recommendations that could make it easier for federal workers and contractors to unionize.
The report submitted to President Joe Biden included 70 distinct policy proposals, according to a release by the White House. Biden created the task force chaired by Vice President Kamala Harris, with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh as vice chair, through an executive order last April.
The report argues that a decades-long drop in union membership has coincided with a rising share of income going to the top 10% of earners. It further says that most Americans have a favorable impression of unions and would join one if given the option in a vote. Yet the Labor Department reported last month that only 10.3% of workers belonged to a union in 2021, down from 20.1% in 1983.
Many of the proposals to increase unionization are specific directions focused on the federal government as an employer. The Interior Department is among four agencies that will now let union organizers talk with employees on federal property, a rule that applies to private-sector employees on contract with the government.
The departments of Transportation and Commerce will set preferences and guidelines for federal grants to foster union jobs.
There will be a ban on federal contract dollars going to anti-union activities by the Defense, Health and Human Services and Labor departments as well as the Office of Management and Budget.
Other proposals include efforts to improve workers’ awareness of their rights and to enforce existing labor laws. The task force plans to submit a follow-up report in six months to describe how agencies are implementing the policies and to issue new recommendations.
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September 15, 2022
by Dan McCue
Biden Calls Tentative Railway Deal ‘A Big Win for America’
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden made a last-minute addition to his public schedule on Thursday, inviting railroad and union leaders... Read More
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by Biden: Tentative Railway Labor Deal Reached, Averting Strike
Biden: Tentative Railway Labor Deal Reached, Averting Strike
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by Dan McCue
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WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden continued to press union leaders and rail companies to make a deal and avert a national railroad strike as of 12:01 a.m. on Friday, the White House is working on contingencies to reduce the impact of a work stoppage. Earlier... Read More
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by Dan McCue
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by Madeline Hughes
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WASHINGTON — There’s increasing scrutiny on the deal that would allow 64 local news stations to be bought by the hedge fund Standard General. Last week the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America and National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-CWA filed a petition with the Federal Communications... Read More
US Added 390,000 Jobs in May as Hiring Remained Robust
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a healthy 390,000 jobs in May, extending a streak of solid hiring that has... Read More
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