Biden remains clear of endorsing the Union’s efforts in Alabama Amazon Warehouse

President Joe Biden considers himself a trade unionist “from belt buckle to shoe sole, ”As he likes to say. In his campaign and talks policy proposals, Biden has made it clear that he believes all American workers would be better off if more of them carried union cards. And some of the very first actions he took during his tenure supported unions and collective bargaining.

But with Amazon employees in an Alabama warehouse now voting in the most controversial union elections in years, the White House has refrained from supporting unionization there. The relative silence of the administration has not gone unnoticed by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which hopes to represent employees at the retail giant’s fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama.

“I think it is important for the government to demonstrate its support for unionization during this campaign,” said Stuart Appelbaum, the president of RWDSU, in an interview with HuffPost. “This is the largest campaign in many years, and this is a great opportunity for the administration to show working people what’s important to them.”

Amazon has no warehouses in the US and would like to keep it that way. The company has launched an aggressive counter-campaign to dissuade roughly 6,000 workers from joining the RWDSU in a seven-week mail-in election. Amazon’s anti-union message even follows the workers in the bathrooms, where posters urge them to vote “no”.

The rallies and the retailer’s anti-union literature have generated reprimands from Democrats in both the House and Senate, as well as some obnoxious criticism from the White House. Biden tweeted in early February that the policy of the US government is to encourage collective bargaining, and that employers must ensure that employees “a free and fair choice to join a union

However, he did not mention Amazon by name.

“This is his chance to get a stake in the land,” said Erica Iheme, a resident and southern director of Jobs to Move America, a group that works to improve the quality of jobs in Alabama. “He can say, ‘This is where our records are.’ ”

Reuters reported Earlier this month, union leaders had sought support from White House officials.

A supportive tweet from the president may not affect workers’ votes. But it could notify a company like Amazon of possible retaliation and make a strong statement about the administration’s values. It would also be a new marker for a Democratic president when it comes to publicly supporting unions that are often taken for granted in the Democratic Party.

The Barack Obama era also saw major union elections, but the former president characteristically remained above the fray. Obama did not publicly endorse United Auto Workers’ failed attempt to unify an entire Volkswagen factory in Tennessee in 2014. Those were the tightest elections in years, due to the fact that Volkswagen was a foreign car manufacturer in the South.

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There are understandable reasons why even a sympathetic president stays out. A president’s support may not help, and a government may not want to be seen as a thumbs up in the balance. The National Labor Relations Board, an independent agency to which the president appoints, oversees union elections in the private sector. The board may have to decide whether someone broke the law in the Amazon election, or even order a reconsideration.

But Joseph Geevarghese, the executive director of Our Revolution, a progressive group that grew out of Senator Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) 2016 presidential run, argued that Biden has a responsibility to directly condemn Amazon’s anti-union efforts. He said it would be an important symbolic statement, as Ronald Reagan’s dismissal from air traffic controllers meant “open season for unions.”

“The truth is, this is bigger than Amazon,” Geevarghese said.

Jeff Hauser, director of the executive branch’s watchdog group Revolving Door Project, said the government is facing a massive economic and public health crisis but still needs to find time to reject Amazon’s anti-union tactics.

“A president who is affirmatively committed to the labor movement can and should also urge Amazon to stop undermining workers’ democracy,” Hauser said. Even if that support ultimately failed to move the needle, he said, “the ties between working people and the president would not be weakened but strengthened.”

Whatever concerns Biden might have about his participation in a union election, has not stopped some prominent Republican politicians before him. During the UAW’s campaign at Volkswagen, former Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) insured more work in the factory when workers rejected the union. Then Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam also urged workers to reject the union, saying it would force the company to abandon plans to expand.

When asked what kept Biden from explicitly endorsing the Amazon union’s aspiration, a White House spokesman reiterated the president’s general stance, saying he encourages unionization and collective bargaining, and urges employers not to oppose anti- to conduct union actions. Biden has called for higher penalties for companies that illegally break unions, among other major labor law reforms.

Biden may have raised the expectations of progressives through his own pro-union actions to date as president. In an unprecedented move on inauguration day, Biden fired Peter Robb, the Trump-appointed general counsel of the NRLB, who was viewed by unions as vehemently anti-union. In Robb’s place, he has nominated Jennifer Abruzzo, a Communications Workers of America attorney who has received praise from unions.

The anti-union tactics Amazon has employed are quite common among US employers. Many union supporters would like to see more politicians discourage and shame those practices through the pulpit.

Earlier this month, a group of 13 Democratic senators led by Sens. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Cory Booker (NJ), urged Amazon to “follow the law” and cited the company’s efforts to persuade “disgracefulFifty House Democrats, headed by Rep. Andy Levin (Mich.), Sent a similar letter to the company.

RWDSU’s Appelbaum said he was pleased with the number of signers on those letters, but acknowledged it would be nice to add more names.

“I would say to anyone who is a Democrat who hasn’t signed up to think about signing or reconsider why they call themselves a Democrat,” he said.