Some of those on the front lines have been eager for Biden and his administration to take a more active role.
"He could come out with a statement saying many of these workers have been crucial during the pandemic, essential workers, the nurses, they are all entitled to better pay and better working conditions." It would be a bolder statement that he supports workers on strike," said Robert Reich, who was labor secretary during the Clinton administration. "A statement that the president supports the right isn't much in and of itself, because the right is already there in law.
The message stops short, however, of specifically supporting the workers who are on strike, which Biden could do without getting directly involved in any negotiations. "I'm not going to get into the negotiation, but my message is: If you think that's what you need, then you should do it."Ī White House official said that Biden has spoken extensively about his support for unions and collective bargaining and that he believes "workers have a right to strike and government's job is to defend that right." Press secretary Jen Psaki framed the strikes as a positive sign for the economy when she was asked about them last week. "They have a right to strike, and they have a right to demand higher wages, and the companies they're striking on are doing very well," Biden said. More than 24,000 health care workers at Kaiser Permanente are preparing to strike, joining thousands of nurses and other health care workers elsewhere who have been striking for months.īiden made his only comments about what has been dubbed Striketober in response to a reporter's questions last week. Among the strikers are more than 10,000 John Deere workers who went on strike this month. There have been 184 strikes by health care to factory workers this year after the coronavirus pandemic aggravated concerns over low wages and poor working conditions, and the tight labor market has given workers more leverage. He has called himself the most pro-labor president in history, having come out in support of Amazon workers trying to unionize and repeatedly inviting labor leaders to the White House.
As a presidential candidate and a senator, Biden joined picket lines and tweeted out support for striking workers. Instead, he has taken the position that the decision to strike is up to the workers, leaving it to them and their employers to resolve disputes, the officials said. WASHINGTON - As a wave of workers across the country take to picket lines, President Joe Biden is witnessing a resurgence in the labor movement he spent decades championing - at a time when it could hamper the economic recovery he is fighting to protect.īiden has said that he supports the workers' right to strike but that he is "not going to get into the negotiation," and White House officials say he doesn't plan to get involved in any of the labor disputes involving more than 100,000 workers across the country.