XPost: alt.politics.clinton, alt.politics.democrats, alt.news-media
XPost: misc.survivalism
From: cap@hendrie.con

Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday received a new job as
chairperson of President Biden’s pro-union task force — despite
already presiding as migration “point person” as the border
crisis continues to spiral out of control.

Harris, who has gotten lukewarm reviews as the president’s go-to
on recent migrant influx into the US, has been named chairperson
of Biden’s new pro-union effort.

The new White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and
Empowerment was created via executive order and “will be
dedicated … to empower workers to organize and successfully
bargain with their employers,” according to the White House.

While Harris pivots her focus to union growth, Republicans have
called her out for not doing enough during her month as Biden’s
point person on the US-Mexico border, where there’s at least a
20-year high in illegal crossings.

Harris has yet to visit Central America or tour the border — but
she has traveled extensively to promote Biden’s nearly $2
trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill and his proposed more than $2
trillion infrastructure package.

Last week, the top Republicans on three House committees wrote a
biting letter to Harris, saying that “it is unclear what, if any
actions you have directed or plan to initiate to respond to the
crisis that continues to worsen each day.”

The pro-union task force chaired by Harris will be co-chaired by
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and “will include more than twenty
cabinet members and heads of other federal agencies who will
take a whole-of-government approach to empower workers,” the
White House said.

Unions are an important ally of the Democratic Party and Biden
routinely praises the labor union movement.

“I’m a union guy. I support unions. Unions built the middle
class. It’s about time they start to get a piece of the action,”
Biden said last month at an event in Pittsburgh that kicked off
his infrastructure push, which Democrats may try to ram through
Congress with no Republican support under special budget
reconciliation rules that bypass the usual 60-vote super-
majority for bills to pass the Senate.

The infrastructure bill is expected to include provisions of
Democrats’ Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which
would strike down state “right to work” laws that ban compulsory
union membership.

The White House release Monday noted, “In 2020, union members
made up just 10.8% of the U.S. workforce, down from more than
30% in the 1950s.”

According to the press release, Biden and Harris “believe that
the decline of union membership is contributing to serious
societal and economic problems in our country. Widespread and
deep economic inequality, stagnant real wages, and the shrinking
of America’s middle class are all associated with the declining
percentage of workers represented by unions. In addition, lower
union membership rates have exacerbated the pay gap for women
and workers of color.”

The White House said that “the mission of the Task Force will be
to mobilize the federal government’s policies, programs, and
practices to empower workers to organize and successfully
bargain with their employers. This mission includes looking for
ways to increase worker power in areas of the country with
restrictive labor laws, for marginalized workers including women
and people of color, and for workers in industries that are
difficult to organize and lack labor protections.”

One goal of the task force is to “Increase union membership
across the United States to grow a more inclusive middle class
and provide workers the opportunity to come together for the
purpose of mutual advancement, the dignity of worker [sic] and
workers, respect, and the fair compensation they deserve.”

The task force will issue a report with recommendations in 180
days on proposed pro-union reforms.

Biden on March 24 asked Harris to lead the US response to a
surge of migrants, including thousands of families and
unaccompanied minors from the “Northern Triangle” — Guatemala,
Honduras and El Salvador — in Central America.

But the White House later emphasized she would address only the
“root causes” of migration and not border enforcement.

Harris said this month she intends to travel to Latin America,
including Guatemala and Mexico, but a date has not been
announced. Harris has spoken by phone with the leaders of
Guatemala and Mexico — and will join the Guatemalan leader for a
webcast meeting Monday — but she has not spoken with the leaders
of El Salvador or Honduras.

https://nypost.com/2021/04/26/kamala-harris-gets-new-job-leading- pro-union-task-force/
 

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* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)