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Comment by FollowingTheDao | Hacker News Reader

> The union leader, Harold Daggett, is on record saying that Trump supports the union's aims:

I wish the Democrats were on the side of the unions like they used to be...

Democrats might not currently have Trump's level of protectionism and tariffs, but I think they're still better for unions. For example, the NLRB gets less effective as republicans put more anti-union folks on the board, let alone as the Trump appointees on the supreme court et al. reduce the ability of agencies to regulate.

I wish the right wing in America hadn't spent 90 years demonising socialism, leading to the hollowing-out of unions in America.

The US has one of the lowest union membership rates in the OECD, at 10%.

This comment is correct and people may not be aware of the history. This is mostly Bill Clinton's fault [1]. That was really a response to Ronald Reagan being incredibly effective at union-busting [2]. Since Bill Clinton's presidency, the Democratic Party has largely chased the same large and corporate donors the Republican Party has. On a lot of issues there is no sunlight between the positions of both parties, notably with foreign policy.

For all his faults, Biden is actually the most pro-labor president since at least Jimmy Carter. This article claims since FDR [3]. I realize the bar is pretty low on this. Some notable examples:

- The first sitting president to walk a picket line [4];

- Yes, Biden blocked the rail strike but later was credited with helping secure a deal for paid sick leave [5];

- Pro-labor efforts by the NLRB [6];

- More [7].

As much as the Democratic Party has abandoned unions, one cannot overstate the impact of the Red Scare. Decades of successful propaganda about the threat of communism has led us to where we are right now.

[1]: https://lawcha.org/2016/11/23/bill-clinton-remade-democratic...

[2]: https://onlabor.org/ronald-reagan-has-shaped-u-s-labor-law-f...

[3]: https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/biden-is-the-mo...

[4]: https://aflcio.org/2023/9/27/service-solidarity-spotlight-bi...

[5]: https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/2306...

[6]: https://www.epi.org/publication/bidens-nlrb-restoring-rights...

[7]: https://www.govexec.com/management/2024/05/bidens-labor-repo...

My brother is a union organizer, according to him Trump’s NLRB folks have been terrible for unions, Biden’s have been much better. I feel like I hear more of this “Republicans are more pro-union than Democrats” stuff from people who aren’t in unions than from people who are (also I’ll trust the word of boots-on-the-ground organizers over union leadership anyday).

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