Big Labor Owns Biden Presidential Campaign

Platform ‘Unity Task Force’ Dominated by Beltway Union Officials

Presumptive 2020 Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden is making no bones about the fact that he intends to bring about a vast expansion of union officials’ coercive special privileges if he becomes the 46th U.S. President this coming January.

As if to hammer home the point that he is a radical advocate of forced unionism, Mr. Biden invited Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the avowed socialist who unsuccessfully challenged him for the Democrat nomination early this year, to help him select the members of his six “Unity Task Forces.”

These small teams of political insiders will shape the Biden agenda in key areas.

And Inside-the-D.C. Beltway union bosses Lee Saunders, Sara Nelson, Mary Kay Henry, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, and Randi Weingarten are members of the economic, health care, and education task forces. As Vox reporter Ella Nielsen explained in her account of the Unity Task Force selections, the political operatives serving on these panels may well, in addition to having direct input on the 2020 Democrat National Committee (DNC) platform, “have a say on who might serve” in the Biden White House should he be elected President.

National Right to Work Committee Vice President Greg Mourad commented:

“Given the radical labor policies Joe Biden has already endorsed, including wiping out all 27 state Right to Work laws so that union bosses can force millions more American workers to pay union dues, or else be fired, it isn’t surprising he is literally having union bosses w write the first draft of the DNC platform.”

State and Local Public Employees Who Wish to Stay Union-Free in Biden Sights

Last year, Mr. Biden explicitly vowed to push for adoption of the cynically mislabeled “Protecting the Right to Organize” Act, or PRO Act (H.R.2474/S.1306).

This is a package of new special privileges for union bosses that includes a provision making private-sector forced union fees permissible in all 50 states, including states where they are currently prohibited by state law.

The PRO Act, which passed the Nancy Pelosi-ruled House of Representatives on February 6, includes a wide array of other special-interest provisions designed to further empower union bosses to force their “representation” on as many private-sector workers as possible.

But the PRO Act actually doesn’t go far enough for Mr. Biden.

Even though state and local employees have traditionally been regarded as subject to the jurisdiction of the states, not the federal government, Mr. Biden has said he would be eager to sign federal legislation foisting union monopoly bargaining on public workers in all 50 states.

Government Union Bosses ‘Calling the Shots’

Mr. Mourad pointed out that four of the five union bosses handpicked for the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force head huge government unions:

“Lee Saunders is chief of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union. Mary Kay Henry runs the Service Employees International Union. And Lily Eskelsen Garcia and Randi Weingarten respectively control the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers unions.

“To an even greater extent than private-sector union bosses, government union bosses are calling the shots for the Biden 2020 campaign. Taxpayers, as well as independent-minded civil servants, beware!”

Despite Mr. Biden’s decades-long track record of support for forced unionism, and his recent moves towards pro-union monopoly extremism, the National Right to Work Committee is not giving up on trying to change his mind.

Right to Work Federal Survey Program Holds Candidates Accountable

Mr. Mourad explained:

“Through our Survey 2020 program, the Committee is mobilizing freedom-loving citizens nationwide to contact their federal candidates, including Joe Biden, and encouraging them to oppose union monopoly bargaining and forced union dues.

“The Survey 2020 will leave Big Labor politicians like Joe Biden with a choice: Repudiate their records of support for union special privileges, or face the potential political consequences.

“Grassroots communications with elected officials who have expressed their support for Right to Work in the past, such as President Donald Trump, are another critical component of the survey program.

“Candidates who pledged to support Right to Work in their previous campaigns must be encouraged to reaffirm their commitment, and back it up with effective actions.”