Worker Organizing and Empowerment
| Published date | 29 April 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 22829 |
| Record Number | 2021-09213 |
| Section | Presidential Documents |
| Court | Executive Office Of The President |
Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 81 (Thursday, April 29, 2021)
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 81 (Thursday, April 29, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 22829-22832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09213]
[[Page 22827]]
Vol. 86
Thursday,
No. 81
April 29, 2021
Part IIIThe President-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Executive Order 14025--Worker Organizing and Empowerment
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 86 , No. 81 / Thursday, April 29, 2021 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 22829]]
Executive Order 14025 of April 26, 2021
Worker Organizing and Empowerment
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy and Findings. The National Labor
Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151) proclaims that the policy
of the United States is to encourage worker organizing
and collective bargaining and to promote equality of
bargaining power between employers and employees. In
the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute
(5 U.S.C. 7101(a)(1)), the Congress found that
``experience in both private and public employment
indicates that the statutory protection of the right of
employees to organize, bargain collectively, and
participate through labor organizations of their own
choosing in decisions which affect them . . .
safeguards the public interest, . . . contributes to
the effective conduct of public business, and . . .
facilitates and encourages the amicable settlements of
disputes between employees and their employers
involving conditions of employment.''
In the past few decades, the Federal Government has not
used its full authority to promote and implement this
policy of support for workers organizing unions and
bargaining collectively with their employers. During
this period, economic change in the United States and
globally, technological developments, and the failure
to modernize Federal organizing and labor-management
relations laws to respond appropriately to the reality
found in American workplaces, have made worker
organizing exceedingly difficult.
The result has been a steady decline in union density
in the United States and the loss of worker power and
voice in workplaces and communities across the country.
This decline has had a host of negative consequences
for American workers and the economy, including
weakening and shrinking America's middle class.
Meanwhile, some workers have been excluded from
opportunities to organize unions and bargain
collectively with their employers by law or practice,
and so have never been able to build meaningful
economic power or have a voice in their workplaces.
Confirming the policies declared in Federal labor laws,
substantial evidence shows that union membership
increases wages, the likelihood of receiving employer-
provided benefits, and job security. Union membership
also gives workers the means to build the power to
ensure that their voices are heard in their workplaces,
their communities, and in the Nation.
Therefore, it is the policy of my Administration to
encourage worker organizing and collective bargaining.
Sec. 2. Task Force on Worker Organizing and
Empowerment. There is hereby established within the
Executive Office of the President the Task Force on
Worker Organizing and Empowerment (Task Force).
(a) The Vice President shall serve as Chair of the
Task Force. In addition to the Vice President, the Task
Force shall consist of the following officials or their
designees:
(i) the Secretary of Labor, who shall serve as Vice Chair of the Task
Force;
(ii) the Secretary of the Treasury;
(iii) the Secretary of Defense;
(iv) the Secretary of the Interior;
[[Page 22830]]
(v) the Secretary of Agriculture;
(vi) the Secretary of Commerce;
(vii) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(viii) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
(ix) the Secretary of Transportation;
(x) the Secretary of Energy;
(xi) the Secretary of Education;
(xii) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs;
(xiii) the Secretary of Homeland Security;
(xiv) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
(xv) the Administrator of General Services;
(xvi) the Administrator of the Small Business Administration;
(xvii) the United States Trade Representative;
(xviii) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;
(xix) the Director of the Office of Personnel Management;
(xx) the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers;
(xxi) the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy;
(xxii) the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy;
(xxiii) the Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor; and
(xxiv) the heads of such other executive departments, agencies, and offices
as the President may from time to time designate upon the recommendation of
the Chair of the Task Force.
(b) The Task Force and its members shall identify
executive branch policies, practices, and programs that
could be used, consistent with applicable law, to
promote my Administration's policy of support for
worker power, worker organizing, and collective
bargaining. This identification shall include policies,
practices, and programs that could be used to promote
worker power in areas of the country with hostile labor
laws, for marginalized workers (including women and
persons of color) and hard-to-organize industries, and
in changing industries. The Task Force and its members
also shall identify statutory, regulatory, or other
changes that may be necessary to make policies,
practices, and programs more effective means of
supporting worker organizing and collective bargaining.
(c) The functions of the Task Force are advisory in
nature only; the purpose of the Task Force is to make
recommendations regarding changes to policies,
practices, programs, and other changes that would serve
the objectives of this order.
(d) The Task Force should invite the National Labor
Relations Board, the Federal Labor Relations Authority,
the National Mediation Board, and other executive
agencies, boards, and commissions with responsibility
for implementing laws concerning worker organizing and
collective bargaining to consult, as appropriate and
consistent with applicable law, with the Task Force.
(e) The Chair may establish such sub-committees or
other working groups composed of Task Force members or
their representatives as may be necessary to accomplish
the objectives of this order.
[[Page 22831]]
(f) Consistent with the objectives of this order
and applicable law, the Task Force may gather relevant
information from labor organizations, other worker
advocates, academic and other experts, and other
entities and persons it identifies that will assist the
Task Force in accomplishing the objectives of this
order.
(g) The Task Force shall, within 180 days of the
date of this order, submit to the President
recommendations for actions as described in subsection
(b) of this section to promote worker organizing and
collective bargaining in the public and private
sectors, and to increase union density. The Task Force
may, at the Chair's discretion, recommend appropriate
or time-sensitive individual actions to promote worker
organizing and collective bargaining before the
deadline established by this section. The Task Force
and its members shall work to implement all
recommendations that the President may approve, to the
extent permitted by law, and shall report their
progress as directed by the Chair.
Sec. 3. Definitions. For purposes of this order:
(a) ``Policies, practices, and programs'' includes
regulations; guidance and other formal policy
documents; procurements; grants and other direct or
indirect Federal investments; tax and trade
administration and enforcement; administration and
enforcement of labor, employment, and other relevant
laws; property management; and human resources
management and labor relations.
(b) ``Worker organizing and collective bargaining''
encompasses the private sector, State and local
governments, and the Federal Government. It also
includes those sectors of the economy and those workers
who have not historically been able to unionize, or
whose ability to effectively collectively bargain or
organize has been undermined.
(c) the term ``agency'' refers to all agencies
described in section 3502(1) of title 44, United States
Code, except for the agencies described in section
3502(5) of title 44.
Sec. 4. Revocations. (a) Executive Order 13845 of July
19, 2018 (Establishing the President's National Council
for the American Worker), and Executive Order 13931 of
June 26, 2020 (Continuing the President's National
Council for the American Worker and the American
Workforce Policy Advisory Board), are revoked.
(b) The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget and the heads of executive departments and
agencies shall promptly consider taking steps to
rescind any orders, rules, regulations, guidelines, or
policies, or portions thereof, implementing or
enforcing Executive Order 13845 or Executive Order
13931, as appropriate and consistent with applicable
law, including the Administrative Procedure Act (5
U.S.C. 551 et seq.). In addition, they shall abolish
any personnel positions, committees, task forces, or
other entities established pursuant to Executive Order
13845 or Executive Order 13931, as appropriate and
consistent with applicable law.
Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
[[Page 22832]]
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 26, 2021.
[FR Doc. 2021-09213
Filed 4-28-21; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P
