Biden’s labor report card: Historian gives ‘Union Joe’ a higher grade than any president since FDR

President Joe Biden joins striking United Auto Workers on the picket line on Sept. 26, 2023, alongside UAW President Shawn Fain. AP Photo/Evan Vucci by Erik Loomis, University of Rhode Island Joe Biden has pledged repeatedly to go further than any of his predecessors with his support for U.S. labor rights. “I intend to be the most pro-union president leading the most pro-union administration in American history,” Biden said at a White House meeting in September 2021 that brought together ordinary workers, labor leaders and government officials. He has expressed this intention many times, sometimes clarifying his goals. For example, in 2023 he said in Chicago that his administration was “making it easier to empower workers by making it easier to join a union.” Based on my research regarding the history of organized labor in America, I would give Biden an A-minus for his record on workers rights. In my view, the man dubbed “Union Joe” has lived up to the claim, with one notable error. 4 years of sticking to that message Biden has set many precedents related to organized labor. In 2021, Biden encouraged workers at an Amazon facility in Alabama to vote in favor of joining a...