Can Biden Revive the Fortunes of American Workers? Right now there are two forces bolstering workers’ bargaining position. One is historically low unemployment. The other is a shift in the political climate. President Biden is arguably the most pro-labor president since Harry Truman.

4 comments

1. Anyone who believes this article or the headline should take a long walk off of a short pier.

   If you believe Biden is supporting Labor, you may as well commit suicide right now.

   Interesting that they chose “Harry Truman” and not FDR.

   [FDR did what he did to save capitalism, (possibly) not because he cared for “Mr Everyman”.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU-AkeOyiOQ&t=2206s)

   OTOH, the Plutocracy did poison FDR, (just like they murdered JFK, RFK, and MLK) so who knows?

2. >Which brings us to the current moment, which may be an inflection point.

   >Right now there are two forces bolstering workers’ bargaining position. One is a tight labor market: We’ve just experienced the longest stretch of unemployment [below 4 percent](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgraph.png?g=1kRhU) since the 1960s. This tight labor market is probably the main reason we’ve seen an “[unexpected compression](https://twitter.com/arindube/status/1724147807563477440)” of wages in recent years, with earnings rising much faster at the bottom than at the top.

   >The other is a shift in the political climate. President Biden, who [joined a U.A.W. picket line](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/26/us/politics/biden-uaw-strike-picket-michigan.html) in Michigan last September, is arguably the most pro-labor president [since Harry Truman](https://millercenter.org/president/truman/domestic-affairs#:~:text=Truman%20called%20for%20new%20public,agencies%20and%20defense%20industries)%2C%20a). This involves more than gestures. On Tuesday, for example, the Federal Trade Commission [issued a ban](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/business/noncompete-clause-ban.html) on most noncompete clauses, which prevent a company’s employees from taking jobs with rival businesses; such clauses currently cover, roughly, an astonishing 30 million workers and have been a major force reducing labor market competition.

   >There’s a reason, then, that Biden has been getting early and enthusiastic endorsements from major unions, including the U.A.W. in January and, [this week](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/25/us/politics/biden-micron-chip-grants.html), the Building Trades Unions, which represents about [three million workers](https://nabtu.org/about-nabtu/) in the United States and Canada.

   The tight labor market means that almost no one is willing to work for minimum wage anymore. Even fast food workers are making more than $15/hour in most places ($20/hr in California). And the revitalized unions are now winning huge wage and benefit increases for workers. Biden himself joined the UAW picket line last year. It’s not a huge surprise that workers at a VW plant in Tennessee just voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW.

3. didn’t Biden make it illegal for railway workers to strike? trains have been made longer, have less crew, and have failing infrastructure while rail companies have increased profits hand over first, while also lowering regulations?

   I think this is a puff piece to try and get support, but his recent history proves hes not pro worker imo.

4. Half the stories I read are people on hundreds of applications because they can’t find a new job. Kinda bargaining they got?