Situation Report | May 3, 2021
President Biden has signed an Executive Order to support labor through organizing and collective bargaining.
It sets up a Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment that will consist of the Secretaries of various federal agencies and other officials.
Chaired by Vice President Kamala Harris and vice-chaired by Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, the Task Force will identify executive branch policies, practices, and programs “to promote the Administration’s policy of support for worker power, worker organizing, and collective bargaining.”
This includes policies, practices, and programs “that could be used to promote worker power in areas of the country with hostile labor laws, for marginalized workers (including women and persons of color) and hard-to-organize industries, and in changing industries.”
The Task Force and its members will also identify changes to make policies, practices, and programs a “more effective means of supporting worker organizing and collective bargaining.”
The Task Force has 180 days (from April 26) to submit recommendations to promote worker organizing and collective bargaining in the public and private sectors, and to increase union density.
Additional Order
President Biden has also issued an executive order that directed the Department of Labor to consider whether any emergency temporary standards were necessary to keep workers safe from the hazard created by COVID-19. On Monday, April 26, OSHA sent draft standards to the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. HCA will keep members updated on any new standards that result.