Among the starkest divisions in America is public-sector unionization. The rate at which government workers are organized ranges from a mere 7 percent in South Carolina to 67 percent in New York. Underlying those numbers are differences in state laws that restrict, in some places, the right of government unions to bargain collectively. Political leaders in those states have followed the advice of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who famously observed that “it is impossible to bargain collectively with the government” and that strikes by government workers would be “unthinkable and intolerable.”
Joe Biden would change all of that. If elected president, he would look to pass national legislation requiring state and local governments to recognize and bargain with government unions. No Democratic president supported by a Democratic Congress has ever seriously pushed this idea; it’s among the most radical proposals in a platform that would rewrite much of U.S. labor law, including for government workers. That represents a shift for a Democratic agenda that traditionally focuses on helping private unions rebuild membership. Most of those efforts have proved fruitless, however, as the percentage of workers organized in the private sector continues to decline. Biden seems anxious, by contrast, to solidify his support among government labor groups—even as Donald Trump has flirted with private-sector unions, especially in blue-collar trade occupations that balk at some of today’s Democratic agenda.
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