White House press secretary Jen Psaki sidestepped questions Monday about reports that President Biden is mulling a White House meeting with union workers from Amazon and Starbucks.
“We are in regular touch with union workers and union leaders, in large part because the president has been an advocate of collective bargaining rights and the right of anyone to choose to join a union. But I don’t have anything to preview in terms of a meeting,” she told reporters.
The Washington Post reported that Mr. Biden is mulling such a meeting in what would be a major signal of support for unionizing those companies.
Discussions are said to be ongoing and nothing has yet been finalized.
Mr. Biden earlier this month signaled support for efforts by Amazon workers to unionize, the furthest he’s ever gone to support organization efforts at the nation’s largest e-commerce company.
“The choice to join a union belongs to workers alone … and by the way Amazon, here we come,” Mr. Biden said to thunderous applause at the North America’s Building Trade Unions conference in Washington, D.C.
Amazon workers at its Staten Island, New York warehouse made history in March, by voting to unionize. The workers become the first group to vote in favor of unionizing at an Amazon warehouse.
But the unionization vote at a different Staten Island Amazon facility failed, according to the count released Monday.
The March vote was a major loss for Amazon, which has repeatedly fought to keep organized labor out of its warehouses, and a big victory for labor unions.
Workers at more than 40 Starbucks locations have voted to unionize since December after a Buffalo store became the first to support unionization. Votes are now set to take place at hundreds more Starbucks stores across the country.
Mr. Biden has touted his administration as the most “pro-union” in recent history. When Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama were voting to unionize last year, Mr. Biden issued a video offering support but did not mention the e-commerce behemoth specifically.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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