WASHINGTON (AP) — There has been a doubling of worker requests for union representation during President Joe Biden’s administration, according to figures released Tuesday by the National Labor Relations Board.
There were 3,286 petitions filed with the government in fiscal year 2024, up from 1,638 in 2021. This is the first increase in unionization petitions during a presidential term since Gerald Ford’s term, which ended 48 years ago.
During Trump’s presidency, union petitions fell 22%.
President Joe Biden said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press that the increase shows his administration has done more for workers than his predecessor, Donald Trump, the current Republican candidate seeking to return to the White House in the November election fights.
“After the previous administration sided with big corporations to undermine workers — from blocking overtime wage protections to making it harder to organize — my administration stood with workers,” Biden said. “Because when unions do well, all workers do well and the entire economy benefits.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, is relying heavily on union support to win voters in this year’s presidential election. But Trump’s push for tariffs on foreign imports has appeal to workers that is more critical to some unionized workers than his previous term in office.
Only 16% of voters in 2020 belonged to a union household. According to AP VoteCast, Biden secured 56% of that, while Trump received 42%. The margin of support in union households in this year’s election could determine the outcome of potentially close races in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Workers also have more power to report what they believe are unfair labor practices. The National Labor Relations Board said its field offices received a total of 24,578 cases last fiscal year, the most cases in more than a decade.
