Pro-Union Activism Under the Biden Administration


Federal agencies are reversing course on long-standing labor policies and rulings at the expense of employers and employees.


A


fter launching his 2020 election campaign from a union hall, then-candidate


and former vice president Joe Biden famously said he would “be the most pro-union president you’ve ever seen.” Several months into his administration, he repeated that assertion, stating, “You know, you’ve heard me say many times: I intend to be the most pro-union president leading the most pro-union administration in American history.” What that means for employers is a hodge-podge of potential policy shifts that could make the turbulent years of the Obama administration seem rather tame, and businesses in every industry should take heed. At the core of Biden’s labor-related policies is the fundamental reality that union membership has been declining


steadily since the mid-1950s when a little over a third of the workforce belonged to a union. Today, just over 10 percent do, more than half of which are in the public sector; only 6.1 percent of private sector workers are unionized. Factoring out the public sector unions, of which there were few, if any, back then, the decline amounts to about an 82 percent drop in private sector union membership. That massive decline represents an existential threat to labor leaders and their political allies. Cue agencies like the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which is now governed by pro-union appointees of President Biden who are working to reshape labor and employment policies. The Biden administration also is expanding its pro-labor agenda through other


By Sean Redmond U.S. Chamber of Commerce Fall 2022 23


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