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UNI Global Union today welcomed the support of the Obama administration for workers and union rights after the President invited union leaders to the White House to be on hand as he announced the formation of a middle class task force and signed several executive orders that will benefit workers.



The White House Middle Class Task Force will focus on ways to support and enlarge the middle class and will conduct outreach with labour unions and other groups on the issue.



“President Obama has hit the ground running on union issues,” said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings. “As we move toward the G20 summit in April, we hope that this is a sign he will be championing job creation and workers rights when he meets with other world leaders.”



On Friday, just days after being sworn into office, President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden welcomed the officers and Presidents of Change to Win, the officers and Executive Council members of the AFL-CIO and the Presidents of NEA and NTEU to the White House. The event was in stark contrast to the complete shut-out of unions and workers’ rights advocates during the George W. Bush administration.



“I believe we need to reverse many of the policies toward organized labour we’ve seen these last eight years, policies with which I have sharply disagreed. I do not view the labour movement as part of the problem; to me, and to my administration, labour unions are a big part of the solution. We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests,” Obama said at the event.



UNI is backing its US members in their fight for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would give workers the right to join unions and collectively bargain without fear of retribution from their employers. UNI and its unions believe that this legislation is vital to protecting the middle class in the United States.



The new middle class task force, which will be chaired by Vice-President Biden, is charged with raising the living standards of middle class, working families in America by:

· Expanding education and lifelong training opportunities

· Improving work and family balance

· Restoring labour standards, including workplace safety

· Helping to protect middle class and working-family incomes

· Protecting retirement security



These themes are essential for protecting workers not just in the US but worldwide, UNI said.



“If you want to find the socially-responsible solution to this worldwide economic crisis then unions need to have a seat at the table,” Jennings said.



President Obama said protecting US workers’ right to unionise was vital to maintaining the middle class.



“Because we know that you cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labour movement. And we know that strong, vibrant and growing unions can exist side by side with strong, vibrant and growing businesses. This is not an either-or proposition between the interests of workers and the interests of shareholders. The American economy is not – and has never been – a zero-sum game,” Obama said.



The executive orders signed by Obama on Friday will also give a boost to workers. They require federal contractors to post a balanced notice of workers’ rights; prevent use of government funds for anti-union activity; and give workers a chance to keep their jobs when a federal contract providing services to a federal building changes hands.



For more information on the Middle Class Task force: www.AStrongMiddleClass.gov



You can read President Obama’s remarks here:





You can read Vice-President Biden’s remarks here: