A meeting of Presidents

US President holds top level meeting with labour presidents … and lunch

Presidents of all US unions met with US President Joe Biden at the DuPont hotel, Wilmington, Delaware in March.

US Labour Secretary Marty Walsh, himself a former union leader, was also at the meeting hosted by AFL CIO President Liz Shuler.

The president thanked the labour leaders for their support. He outlined the steps his administration had taken since inauguration in January 2021 to help union members.

In the 14 months since Joe Biden became President, more than 7.4M jobs have been created across the United States, and unemployment has reduced to 3.8%.

Since coming to power Biden has sacked all Trump appointments on the National Labor Relations Board and appointed academics, former union leaders, union lawyers and mediators.

“We’ve never had a US President this committed to the union movement,” said ILWU President Willie Adams. “Not Clinton, not Obama – not since Harry Truman.”

Meanwhile in February former ILWU waterside worker and union official Max Vekich was sworn in as the fifth member of the Federal Maritime Commission. The Biden appointment was confirmed by the US Senate in a 51-43 vote on February 10. •