For decades, big corporations and the wealthy doggedly and successfully chipped away at the rights and well-being of workers. Employers ran sophisticated anti-union efforts; states passed so-called “Right to Work” laws; powerful lobbies leaned on Congress to deny a bump in the federal minimum wage…the list goes on.

The result? A steep decline in unionization levels (which peaked in the 1950s at 35%, and then declined from 20% in 1983 to 10% in 2020), along with deterioration of worker power and well-being: stagnating wages, mounting debt, fractured schedules, workplace hazards like COVID-19, and growing inequality.

Is it possible we’ve reached a breaking point? And that there’s an opening now to redress the balance of power?

Signs point to yes, but it will take the energy and leadership of disparate generations to make it happen.

Which side are you on?

Roughly 60 years separate the most determined and savvy pro-labor activists in this country. In 2022, we find an 80-year-old man along with thousands of young activists ignited by the same passion, and working toward the same goal: to support efforts to organize and unionize.

Born in 1942, Joe Biden came of age in the 1950s, when unions in the US were at their healthiest point, and working families (mostly white) built a solid middle class.[1]

Born in the 1980s and 1990s, millions of young activists entered the workforce at a time when union numbers had plummeted, and the workplace had changed dramatically.

Today, both generations are keenly aware of how much workers need to organize, unionize, and collectively bargain—and how much they need to use that collective power to change the rules of a game that has been systematically rigged against them.

Sure enough, young workers are organizing: While the overall percentage of union members stayed flat between 2019 and 2021, the percentage of workers ages 25-34 who are union members rose from 8.8% to 9.4%.

At the same time, President Biden is going full throttle at efforts to support workers and unionization efforts.

Has Biden lived up to his promise to be the “most pro-union president leading the most pro-union administration in American history”?

Well, he’s made a good start, but he’s not there yet. Some of the shortfall has to do with a recalcitrant Senate that has failed to advance vital legislation;[2] some has to do with half steps rather than whole.

A short list of some major moves:

Repairing damage done to federal agencies

After Trump eroded the power of agencies intended to protect workers, Biden set about restoring their staffing, powers, and commitment to workers. Importantly, he chose leaders from union ranks: Labor Secretary Marty Walsh has roots in Laborers Local 223; Robert Klein who serves on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority came out of IBEW, and James Fredrick at OSHA was with United Steelworkers.

In addition, the composition of the National Labor Relations Board has changed, and now takes seriously the integrity of organizing efforts and elections—which is vital as the wave of organizing efforts continues to roll across the country. One recent sign of progress was the decision to rerun the union election at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, where the company had engaged in illegal practices.

Issuing executive orders in support of workers and unions

In just over a year, President Biden has issued several orders that have the potential to improve the lives of millions of working families.

RAISED WAGES FOR ALL FEDERAL CONTRACTORS : Nearly 400,000 workers will get a raise this year, thanks to an executive order that became effective January 30. The US government is the single largest buyer of goods and services in the world, and in fiscal 2020 federal contracting was worth $665 billion, so this is huge.

The rule does the following: Increases the hourly minimum wage to $15 for workers performing work on or in connection with covered federal contracts, and continues to index to inflation; eliminates the tipped minimum wage for federal contract employees by 2024; ensures a $15 minimum wage for workers with disabilities working in connection with covered contracts; and restores minimum wage protections to outfitters and guides on federal lands.

This new rule will benefit workers of color especially: of the 390,000 federal contractors who will see wage increases, roughly 200,000 are Black or Latinx.

While this is a big step and a huge improvement, it needs to be said that $15 is not a living wage in most of the US. The administration could go a step further and offer additional points in procurement bidding for employers willing to go above and beyond this threshold.

CREATED THE TASK FORCE ON WORKER ORGANIZING AND EMPOWERMENT: The task force recently published a report on what the president can do to use federal policies and programs to promote organizing and collective bargaining. The report notes that “it is our administration’s belief that unions benefit all of us. Unions have fought for and helped win many aspects of our work lives many of us take for granted today, like the 40-hour work week and the weekend, as well as landmark programs like Medicare.”

CREATED A NEW INITIATIVE ON INTERNATIONAL WORKER RIGHTS: The M-POWER Initiative is the largest commitment by the federal government to advance workplace democracy and support trade union rights around the world. It includes a commitment by the Department of Labor (DOL), USAID, and the State Department to invest more than $120 million for innovative technical assistance to empower workers and strengthen worker voices.

ANNOUNCED NEW POLICY ON DECONFLICTION AROUND THE UNDOCUMENTED WORKFORCE: In another reversal of Trump policies, Homeland Security announced a new policy on worksite enforcement and deconfliction between DOL and the Department of Homeland Security. The policy orders an end to mass worksite enforcement operations (in response to how these operations enabled retaliation and chilled the exercise of worker rights), and offers immigration protection to noncitizen and undocumented workers who are witnesses to or victims of labor abuses.

REQUIRED PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS IN LARGE FEDERAL PROJECTS: On February 4, Biden signed the Executive Order on the Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects, which requires the federal government to use a PLA—a labor agreement established before hiring takes place—before awarding contracts valued over $35 million.[3]

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ANNOUNCED THE “GOOD JOBS” INITIATIVE: For years, Oxfam has promoted the idea that all jobs are NOT the same. This new initiative promises to provide critical information to workers, employers, and government entities as they seek to improve job quality, at the same time that it creates access to good union jobs for all workers and job seekers.

ORDERED OSHA TO CREATE A COVID EMERGENCY TEMPORARY STANDARD (ETS): On his first day in office, Biden directed OSHA to create the standard to keep workers safe on the job; unfortunately, when OSHA issued the ETS in June 2021, it pertained only to the healthcare industry, leaving millions of essential workers at risk.

PROMOTED FEDERAL UNIONS AND ALLOWED THEM TO BARGAIN AGAIN: While President Trump’s administration disempowered federal unions, President Biden is restoring their rights. Federal agencies will be required to educate new hires about their right to join a federal union, and the agencies must communicate more clearly with current employees. In addition, federal unions will be allowed to bargain again.

Issuing statements in support of unions

• In March 2021, for the first time since President Harry Truman, a sitting President issued a statement in support of workers who were organizing, in this case the workers at Amazon’s Alabama warehouse.
• In his first address to Congress, President Biden outlined his major plans for recovery and moving the country forward (the American Jobs Plan, American Families Plan, and American Rescue Plan). He focused on jobs and mentioned the I.B.E.W., which represents about 775,000 electrical workers.
• In August, he convened a meeting of automakers to discuss a goal of having 50% of new cars be electric by 2030. Biden met with the UAW’s big three automakers, but declined to meet with carmakers that are not unionized.

And finally, hoping to build back better for working families

President Biden issued sweeping and concrete plans to empower workers in his legislative proposals to help revitalize the economy—especially in the Build Back Better Framework, which stalled in the Senate earlier this year. This bill had significant investments in working families, with historic support for childcare systems, including the childcare workforce (historically female and Black and Latina).

The BBB went one step further than empowering workers: it shored up the family systems that undergird all economic activity.

In dragging its feet on the BBB and other transformative pieces of legislation (such as the PRO Act), Congress showed that it’s willing to delay progress, disempower workers, and prevent the wage floor from rising above poverty levels.

It also reminded everyone that corporations and the ultrawealthy will not give up without a fight.

But as the generations join forces to organize, we all get a bit closer to equity, prosperity, and an actual future.

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Footnotes

[1] While this largely benefited the white working class, it’s also urgent to note that what is happening now has become a civil rights emergency. The low-wage workforce is disproportionately Black and Latinx, immigrants and refugees, and these workers are disproportionately impacted by stagnating wages and rising prices. Unions have the power to make a significant dent in wage gaps by race and gender.

[2] The President has proposed a suite of laws that promote improvements in wages, conditions, and rights to organize. Many of these have passed the House and stalled in the Senate. One of the most fundamental is the PRO Act (Protecting the Right to Organize Act), which would restore rights of workers to freely and fairly form a union.

[3] A project labor agreement (PLA) is intended to set standards for wages and other conditions—such as hours, working conditions, dispute resolution methods, and banning work stoppages and strikes—through an arrangement with a labor organization prior to the start of a specific construction project.