XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, alt.politics.democrats.d, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh   
   From: cap@hendrie.con   
      
   Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday received a new job as   
   chairperson of President Biden’s pro-union task force — despite   
   already presiding as migration “point person” as the border   
   crisis continues to spiral out of control.   
      
   Harris, who has gotten lukewarm reviews as the president’s go-to   
   on recent migrant influx into the US, has been named chairperson   
   of Biden’s new pro-union effort.   
      
   The new White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and   
   Empowerment was created via executive order and “will be   
   dedicated … to empower workers to organize and successfully   
   bargain with their employers,” according to the White House.   
      
   While Harris pivots her focus to union growth, Republicans have   
   called her out for not doing enough during her month as Biden’s   
   point person on the US-Mexico border, where there’s at least a   
   20-year high in illegal crossings.   
      
   Harris has yet to visit Central America or tour the border — but   
   she has traveled extensively to promote Biden’s nearly $2   
   trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill and his proposed more than $2   
   trillion infrastructure package.   
      
   Last week, the top Republicans on three House committees wrote a   
   biting letter to Harris, saying that “it is unclear what, if any   
   actions you have directed or plan to initiate to respond to the   
   crisis that continues to worsen each day.”   
      
   The pro-union task force chaired by Harris will be co-chaired by   
   Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and “will include more than twenty   
   cabinet members and heads of other federal agencies who will   
   take a whole-of-government approach to empower workers,” the   
   White House said.   
      
   Unions are an important ally of the Democratic Party and Biden   
   routinely praises the labor union movement.   
      
   “I’m a union guy. I support unions. Unions built the middle   
   class. It’s about time they start to get a piece of the action,”   
   Biden said last month at an event in Pittsburgh that kicked off   
   his infrastructure push, which Democrats may try to ram through   
   Congress with no Republican support under special budget   
   reconciliation rules that bypass the usual 60-vote super-   
   majority for bills to pass the Senate.   
      
   The infrastructure bill is expected to include provisions of   
   Democrats’ Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which   
   would strike down state “right to work” laws that ban compulsory   
   union membership.   
      
   The White House release Monday noted, “In 2020, union members   
   made up just 10.8% of the U.S. workforce, down from more than   
   30% in the 1950s.”   
      
   According to the press release, Biden and Harris “believe that   
   the decline of union membership is contributing to serious   
   societal and economic problems in our country. Widespread and   
   deep economic inequality, stagnant real wages, and the shrinking   
   of America’s middle class are all associated with the declining   
   percentage of workers represented by unions. In addition, lower   
   union membership rates have exacerbated the pay gap for women   
   and workers of color.”   
      
   The White House said that “the mission of the Task Force will be   
   to mobilize the federal government’s policies, programs, and   
   practices to empower workers to organize and successfully   
   bargain with their employers. This mission includes looking for   
   ways to increase worker power in areas of the country with   
   restrictive labor laws, for marginalized workers including women   
   and people of color, and for workers in industries that are   
   difficult to organize and lack labor protections.”   
      
   One goal of the task force is to “Increase union membership   
   across the United States to grow a more inclusive middle class   
   and provide workers the opportunity to come together for the   
   purpose of mutual advancement, the dignity of worker [sic] and   
   workers, respect, and the fair compensation they deserve.”   
      
   The task force will issue a report with recommendations in 180   
   days on proposed pro-union reforms.   
      
   Biden on March 24 asked Harris to lead the US response to a   
   surge of migrants, including thousands of families and   
   unaccompanied minors from the “Northern Triangle” — Guatemala,   
   Honduras and El Salvador — in Central America.   
      
   But the White House later emphasized she would address only the   
   “root causes” of migration and not border enforcement.   
      
   Harris said this month she intends to travel to Latin America,   
   including Guatemala and Mexico, but a date has not been   
   announced. Harris has spoken by phone with the leaders of   
   Guatemala and Mexico — and will join the Guatemalan leader for a   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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