Biden signs pro-labor order in Michigan, dares a successor to undo it

SCIO TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Democratic President Joe Biden signed a pro-labor executive order in Michigan Friday, flexing his administrative powers in a bid to promote unions and worker benefits, while daring a successor to repeal the policy.

The White House said the so-called "Good Jobs" order directs federal agencies to prioritize new labor standards, including voluntary union recognition, and projects that supply benefits like child care, health insurance and paid leave.

Biden signed the order, which he described as "groundbreaking," in front of a crowd of unionized workers during an afternoon visit to United Association Local 190's Job Training Center for pipefitters and plumbers in Scio Township, just west of Ann Arbor.

"From this point onward, any president who disagrees with that is going to have to say so out loud, say it to your face and repeal that order," Biden said. "And I want to see them try to do it."

The new order instructs federal agencies to incentivize pro-labor union policies to "the greatest extent possible" by including application evaluation criteria about them when considering projects to fund, according to the White House. Agencies will also weigh "specific high-wage standards" for manufacturing grants, under the order, according to the White House.

Friday's event in the Ann Arbor area occurred as the nation's economy becomes a stronger focus in the presidential race between Republican Donald Trump, the former president, and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. The Nov. 5 election is 60 days away.

“Too many presidents, like my predecessor, have looked the other way as companies trampled on the rights of workers while cashing in their big government checks," Biden said of Trump. "But not anymore.”

Biden signed the order at a desk inside the training center before handing the pen he used to U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich.

The order, according to the White House, marked "the strongest package of priorities that any administration has taken to help promote the free and fair choice to join a union through federally funded and federally supported projects."

The specific implications of the executive order weren't immediately clear, even to labor leaders who attended Friday's event. However, they said the spotlight Biden was putting on workers' rights and unions was significant.

During his remarks, Biden touted prevailing wage standards, which set pay requirements for projects based around similar workers in a specific region.

"Just to hear a president promote prevailing wage is a breath of fresh air," said Mike Barnwell, president of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights. "We've never heard that before."

Barnwell said his union was "growing every day" because of projects and investments Biden's administration has spurred in solar energy, electric vehicles and semiconductors.

The new order will support workforce development through "registered apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, labor-management partnerships and partnerships," according to a statement from the White House.

Colleen Sullivan, deputy director of the Michigan AFL-CIO Workforce Development Institute, said she was excited to see the details of the order because there's a need for more people to enter career pathways in manufacturing.

"By making those quality careers, it's just going to help the work that we're doing," Sullivan said. "It's going to allow us to lift more people out of poverty."

Biden's stop in Washtenaw County on Friday was his first visit to Michigan since he decided to drop his reelection bid on July 21 and endorse Harris, a former U.S. senator from California, to become the Democratic nominee.

A statewide poll of 600 likely voters last week, commissioned The Detroit News and WDIV-TV (Channel 4), showed Trump, the former president, with a slight lead over Harris in Michigan, 44.7%-43.5%. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Asked what the most important issue for the upcoming election was, 19.5% of the poll's participants said jobs and the economy, making it the top answer. The third most frequent answer was inflation and the cost of living at 12%.

Together, the two replies were named as the key topic by about 32% of participants, nearly one in every three and up from 27% in a similar July survey.

Employers in the U.S. added 142,000 jobs last month, up from 89,000 in July, the federal Labor Department said Friday. Meanwhile, the country's unemployment rate dropped to 4.2% from 4.3% in July, which had been the highest level in nearly three years.

Victoria LaCivita, the Trump's campaign spokeswoman in Michigan, said in a statement Friday that Biden's trip to Michigan "another sickening reminder to every Michigander that a Kamala presidency would be another four years of historic inflation, high prices and lost jobs to electric vehicles."

"Despite Kamala and Joe's best efforts, Michigan voters know that only President Donald J. Trump offers the common sense solutions that will Make Michigan Great Again," LaCivita said.

Biden repeatedly criticized Trump during his speech, which lasted about 30 minutes, on Friday. Biden said he was the first president to walk the picket line because of his visit with striking United Auto Workers members outside of a General Motors Co. parts distribution facility in Wayne County in September.

“Trump would much rather cross the picket line than walk one," Biden said.

Biden last came to Michigan for a campaign rally in Detroit on July 12.