2020 presidential candidates on unionization and organization
 Donald Trump Joe Biden Howie Hawkins Jo Jorgensen |
This page includes statements from the 2020 presidential candidates on unionization and organization. These statements were compiled from each candidate's official campaign website, editorials, speeches, and interviews. Click the following links for policy statements about related issues: Janus v. AFSCME, public-sector unions, labor policy, and the right to strike.
The candidates featured on this page are the 2020 presidential nominees from the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Green parties.
Donald Trump Joe Biden Howie Hawkins Jo Jorgensen
Unionization and organization
Republican candidates
Donald Trump
In 2018, Donald Trump issued an executive order stating that, "[Federal] agencies should ensure that taxpayer-funded union time is used efficiently and authorized in amounts that are reasonable, necessary, and in the public interest."
The order goes on to say, "Federal employees should spend the clear majority of their duty hours working for the public. No agency should pay for Federal labor organizations’ expenses, except where required by law. Agencies should eliminate unrestricted grants of taxpayer-funded union time and instead require employees to obtain specific authorization before using such time. Agencies should also monitor use of taxpayer-funded union time, ensure it is used only for authorized purposes, and make information regarding its use readily available to the public." [source, as of 2018-05-25]
Roque De La Fuente
Rocque de la Fuente's campaign website does not include a statement about unionization and organization. [source, as of 2020-03-09]
Bill Weld
Bill Weld's campaign website does not include a statement about unionization and organization. [source, as of 2020-03-09]
Democratic candidates
Joe Biden
According to Joe Biden's campaign website, "Joe Biden believes the federal government should not only defend workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively, but also encourage collective bargaining. That’s the mission put forward by the National Labor Relations Act, signed into law in 1935, which states that 'encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining' is part of the 'policy of the United States.'"
His campaign website continues, "Toward that end, President Biden will: Make it easier for workers who choose to unionize to do so. Today, workers face an uphill battle of anti-union intimidation and intense employer opposition when trying to organize a union. And, too many employers are able to 'run out the clock' on negotiating an initial collective bargaining agreement. Biden strongly supports the provisions of the PRO Act that address union organizing, as well as additional aggressive remedies that will: ban employers’ mandatory meetings with their employees, including captive audience meetings in which employees are forced to listen to anti-union rhetoric; reinstate and codify into law the Obama-Biden Administration’s 'persuader rule' requiring employers to report not only information communicated to employees, but also the activities of third-party consultants who work behind the scenes to manage employers’ anti-union campaigns; codify into law the Obama-Biden era’s NLRB rules allowing for shortened timelines of union election campaigns; and stop employers from stalling initial negotiations with newly formed unions." [source, as of 2020-03-02]
Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard's campaign website does not include a statement about unionization and organization. [source, as of 2020-03-09]
Bernie Sanders
According to Bernie Sanders' campaign website, he plans to "provide unions the ability to organize through a majority sign up process, allowing the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to certify a union if it receives the consent of the majority of eligible workers. Under Bernie’s plan, when a majority of workers in a bargaining unit sign valid authorization cards to join a union, they will have a union. If employers refuse to negotiate in good faith, we will impose strong penalties on those companies." [source, as of 2020-03-02]
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Footnotes
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