Enhancing and growing labor unions has been a major part of President Biden’s strategy since he took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2021. This strategy, combined with supporting the Ukrainian war effort against Russia, and forgiving college loan debts of 4.7 million Americans is at the heart of Biden’s effort to win a second term in November.

Relationships between the presidency and labor unions have not been smooth. Two presidential decisions, President Ronald Reagan’s firing of 11,359 air traffic controllers in August of 1981, and President Biden’s unprecedented decision to join the United Auto Workers’ picket line on September 26, 2023 against the major American automobile manufacturers provide bookends to the seesaw nature of the relationship.

Ironically, the air traffic control union, PATCO (the Professional Air Traffic Control Organization), had endorsed Ronald Reagan’s bid for the presidency in 1981. Reagan, a former Screen Actor’s Guild president, was thought to be amenable to the union’s desire for higher wages and better working conditions. During his campaign, Reagan stated:

“I will take whatever steps are necessary to provide our air traffic controllers with the most modern equipment available, and to adjust staff levels and workdays so they are commensurate with achieving the maximum degree of public safety,” and “I pledge to you that my administration will work very closely with you to bring about to bring about a spirit of cooperation between the President and the air traffic controllers” (Wikipedia)

PATCO leadership read too much into Reagan’s statement and went on strike on Aug. 3, 1981, even though such a strike was illegal and forbidden to federal employees. Their demands were ridiculous and unrealistic. The Federal Aeronautics Administration offered $44 million in increased wages while the union demanded pay raises totaling $600 million. On August 5, 1981, Reagan fired 11,359 controllers who refused to return to work. He also barred them from being rehired by the federal government for life.

Reagan’s decision spelled the weakening of American unions. Businesses followed Reagan’s lead, playing hardball with unions. “In 1970 there were over 380 major strikes or lockouts in the U.S.; by 1980 the number had dropped to under 200, in 1999 it fell to 17, and in 2010 there were only 11” (Wikipedia).

With the weakening of labor unions in America, income inequality increased dramatically. Workers bore the brunt of low wages and benefits. Many of those disgruntled workers voted for Donald Trump in 2016.

President Biden understood that if he wanted to win in 2024, he would have to win back the mainly white workers who felt forgotten by Democrats. He wooed them by encouraging federal funding by pushing through Congress the 2021 bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act through Congress.

Here’s what the Nov. 6, 2021 White House website “Fact Sheet: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal” states: “It will drive the creation of good-paying union jobs and grow the economy sustainably and equitably so that everyone gets ahead for decades to come. Combined with the President’s Build Back Framework, it will add on average 1.5 million jobs per year for the next 10 years.”

Then, when the the United Automobile Workers union went on strike against major American automakers, Biden flew to Michigan and joined the striking workers on picket line. No other president had ever done such a thing.

As a result, the U.A.W. endorsed him for a second term. Former President Trump tried to get union endorsements, but Biden gained U.A.W. and other union backing. This means many Trump supporters will undoubtedly switch sides in the November 2024 election.

Reagan’s firing of 11,359 PATCO workers in 1981 helped create the subsequent decline of workers wages and working conditions and is a cause of income equality we are experiencing today. Biden bookended Reagan’s union busting with getting bipartisan federal funding to rebuild the U.S. infrastructure and by supporting unions.

It seems that “Sleepy Joe” has not been so sleepy. He and his administration have successfully coordinated getting Congress to work together to create jobs and then openly supported unions. Biden has reversed Reagan’s crushing of unions.

Biden deserves another term. Remember that when casting your ballot in November.