Posts tagged Worker Organizing Resource and Knowledge Center
Biden Labor Department Relies on Union-Funded Think Tanks To Push Pro-Union Message
March 18, 2024 // The Department of Labor’s Worker Organizing Resource and Knowledge (WORK) Center, which the Biden administration launched in August 2023, bills itself as the "premiere online resource" for information on labor unions. It offers guides on how to organize workplace unions, and data that tout the benefits of unionization. But those data come from think tanks like the Economic Policy Institute, which says "Unions Promote Racial Equality" and "More Worker Power is the Only Sure Path to Safe Work and Pandemic Recovery." The Center for Economic Policy Research’s study, "Unionization Confers Significant Advantages for Hispanic Workers," is also listed on the site, as is a 2016 report from the left-wing Center for American Progress. The title of that study, "Unions Help the Middle Class, No Matter the Measure," highlights the overlap between the Biden administration, union leaders, and progressive groups.
Federal Employee Union Membership is Up 20%
March 29, 2023 // The task force asked federal agencies to foster collaborative relationships with their union partners, involve labor organizations in predecisional policy discussions, and remove barriers from unions trying to increase their membership or organize new bargaining units. The group recommended that the Office of Personnel Management instruct agencies to provide information on whether job openings are represented by unions and encourage agencies to provide unions more opportunities to communicate with new hires. In a blog post last week, the vice president’s office announced that just a year after agencies began implementing the task force’s recommendations, the initiative is already paying dividends: over the last year, nearly 80,000 federal employees have joined a union, increasing the total number of dues paying union members at federal agencies by 20%. And in the private sector, petitions for union representation increased 53% from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2022, while overall union membership grew by 273,000 last year.