“I Don’t Believe in Taft-Hartley”

Joe Biden Remains The Most Pro-Labor President Maybe Ever

For a half a second there, everyone believed that the longshoremen were going to close east coast ports in the US, causing economic chaos, inflation, and a bleak October surprise for Kamala Harris and the Democrats. But then, the strike was resolved, and the media instantly forgot about it as they trundled after the next horse-race story.

The horserace story tended to overshadow the how and why the strike was resolved. That how and why boils down to Joe Biden being the most pro union president in decades—and maybe in ever, if you see FDR’s racist policies as undermining his support for labor (which it did.)

Biden could have imposed an 80-day cooling off period forcing the 45,000 longshoremen back to work under the Taft-Hartley Act. That would have punted resolution of the strike till after the election. Since Taft-Hartley was passed over Truman’s veto in 1947, presidents have invoked the cooling-off period 37 times. George W. Bush forced one in 2002 during a labor dispute involving the longshoremen.

Biden, though refused to interfere. “It’s collective bargaining,” he said. “I don’t believe in Taft-Hartley.”

Biden’s statement was part of a weeks-long effort to resolve the labor dispute by negotiating with both sides, and by putting pressure on shipping companies to agree to worker’s demands. In addition to categorically refusing to impose a cooling off period, Biden publicly reprimanded the foreign-owned companies for not sharing record profits with workers. Thanks to the new agreement, the workers are expected to receive a 60% pay increase over six years.

Pro-union politics matter

Trump also denounced the foreign shipping companies. But does anyone think that Trump would have risked a national strike before an election if he was president and had the power to order a cooling off period?

Trump likes to mutter about his pro worker stances, but he has an actual record on labor issues, and it’s not good. Trump’s National Labor Relations Board consistently sided against unions, and Trump enthusiastically backed a national right to work bill, which would prevent unions from collecting dues and kneecap their organizing efforts.

In contrast, Biden has presided over a labor renaissance. Low unemployment has allowed workers in industries from the automotive industry to the film industry to railroads to Starbucks to make unprecedented gains. Biden’s NLRB has blocked employees from delaying union elections, and has ruled that employers found to have engaged in illegal anti-union activity must recognize the union immediately. He’s also taken symbolic actions; he’s the first president ever to walk a picket line.

It’s important to recognize, though, that Biden’s support for labor is more than just symbolic. Presidents have a great deal of power to intervene in labor disputes. They can choose to put pressure on bosses and companies, or they can choose to undermine labor actions. Biden deliberately, privately, and publicly told the longshoremen and shipping companies that the federal government was on the side of workers, and that Biden, personally, was going to do everything he could to resolve the issue in the worker’s favor.

More, to repeat, Biden said that he doesn’t believe in Taft-Hartley. Taft-Hartley was, and remains, probably the most effective anti-union bill in the last century. It prohibited sympathy strikes, where workers in other industries would walk off the job to support an ongoing labor action and increase pressure on business. It allowed states to pass right to work laws. It outlawed wildcat strikes by rank and file without official union notification and sanction.

Democrats have tried to repeal Taft-Hartley sporadically for decades, but without success. Biden, though, has shown that a determined president can help undo some of Taft-Hartley’s worst excesses simply by refusing to use it.

The difference between Biden/Harris and Trump on labor is stark. Biden’s support for workers and for a pro-labor NLRB has led to the most successful four years for unions in decades—probably the most successful since Taft-Hartley passed. A Harris presidency would allow labor to build on those gains. A Trump presidency would be a fascist presidency—and fascists loathe unions.

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