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Joe Biden on JobsFormer Vice President; previously Democratic Senator (DE) |
A 2021 report found that 277,000 people worked in the industry with an average salary of $170,000 in 2020. But only those with a bachelor's degree ($120,000) or a graduate degree (over $160,000) had wages that topped six figures. Workers with a high school education or less could expect to earn a little more than $40,000. Those with at least some college experience could make $60,000. Only 20% of semiconductor workers at the time had not attended college. Conversely, 56% of workers had a bachelor's or graduate degree.
"Biden's number is accurate: the US economy added 12.1 million jobs between Biden's first full month in office, February 2021, and January 2023. That number is indeed higher than the number of jobs added in any previous four-year presidential term. However, it's important to note that Biden took office in an unusual pandemic context that makes meaningful comparison to other periods very difficult."
Adding figures since then, The Guardian wrote on 2/2/24, "The US added 2.7m jobs last year even as the Fed drove interest rates up to a 22-year high." And CNN adds on 3/7/24, "Economists expect that US employers added 200,000 jobs last month". That totals to 15 million jobs.
Biden's re-election campaign, meanwhile, promoted a new cable TV and digital ad aimed at Michigan voters, specifically in Detroit, Grand Rapids and Lansing. "He says he stands with autoworkers," a narrator says of Trump. "But as president, Donald Trump passed tax breaks for his rich friends, while automakers shuttered their plants and Michigan lost manufacturing jobs." Biden, the ad asserts, "doesn't just talk; he delivers."
For decades, the middle class was hollowed out. Too many good-paying manufacturing jobs moved overseas. Factories at home closed down. Once-thriving cities and towns became shadows of what they used to be.
And along the way, something else was lost. Pride. That sense of self-worth. I ran for President to fundamentally change things, to make sure the economy works for everyone so we can all feel pride in what we do.
To build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down. Because when the middle class does well, the poor have a ladder up and the wealthy still do very well. We all do well.
So, let's look at the results. Unemployment rate at 3.4%, a 50-year low. Near record low unemployment for Black and Hispanic workers. We've already created 800,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs, the fastest growth in 40 years.
Due to anti-union efforts by many employers for decades, lax enforcement of existing labor laws, and the failure to restore and strengthen labor laws to address the real-world of labor-management relations, only 6.3% percent of private-sector U.S. wage and salary workers were union members in 2020. H.R. 842 would strengthen and protect workers' right to form a union by allowing the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to assess penalties on employers who violate workers' right to organize and ensuring that workers who suffer retaliation for exercising these rights receive immediate relief. [See details of H.R. 842]
PROMISE PARTLY KEPT: (WhiteHouse.gov, 4/27/21): This executive order will:
ANALYSIS:This fulfills the promise as far it can go by executive order. While it will put pressure on the private sector to keep pace, ensuring a $15 wage for non-government contractors would require legislation.]
PROMISE KEPT: (The Hill, Feb. 28, 2021): President Biden offered his support to union organizing efforts as Amazon workers at an Alabama warehouse vote on whether to unionize. "I made it clear when I was running that my administration's policy would be to support unions organizing and the right to collectively bargain," Biden said. "I'm keeping that promise. Let me be really clear: it's not up to me to decide whether anyone should join a union," he added. "But let me be even more clear: it's not up to an employer to decide that either. The choice to join a union is up to the workers--full stop."
BIDEN: No one should work one job, be below poverty. People are making six, seven, eight bucks an hour. These first responders we all clap for as they come down the street because they've allowed us to make it. What's happening? They deserve a minimum wage of $15. Anything below that puts you below the poverty level. And there is no evidence that when you raise the minimum wage, businesses go out of business. That is simply not true.
BIDEN: The idea you're not making a minimum of $15.00 an hour is wrong. No one should have to work two jobs to get out of poverty. I view this campaign as a campaign between Scranton and Park Avenue. All that Trump could see from Park Avenue is Wall Street. We have to make sure healthcare workers are paid a decent wage, and 15 bucks an hour isn't enough.
BIDEN: The idea you're not making a minimum of $15.00 an hour is wrong. No one should have to work two jobs to get out of poverty. I view this campaign as a campaign between Scranton and Park Avenue. All that Trump could see from Park Avenue is Wall Street. We have to make sure healthcare workers are paid a decent wage, and 15 bucks an hour isn't enough.
Biden: So did I, and I went out and campaigned for it.
Sanders: $15 an hour?
Biden: $15 an hour, in New York City. Go to the Governor. You should be aware of it.
Sanders: I will talk to the Governor. I am not aware of it. Four years ago, it was a radical idea. Very few people in Congress were talking about it.
FactCheck by PolitiFact:Biden is right about his efforts in NYC. In 2015, Biden campaigned with NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo to boost NY's minimum wage to $15 per hour. Biden spoke for nearly 30 minutes and called "stagnant wages" the biggest issue facing the economy. Cuomo eventually signed legislation to gradually increase the hourly minimum wage to $15 for all New Yorkers.
During his impassioned address, Biden credited labor unions for building the middle class, and thus "building the United States as we know it. If the middle class is doing fine, everybody does fine," he said. "The wealthy get very wealthy, and the poor have a way up."
Tonight, I've asked Vice President Biden to lead an across-the-board reform of America's training programs to make sure they have one mission: train Americans with the skills employers need, and match them to good jobs that need to be filled right now. That means more on-the-job training, and more apprenticeships that set a young worker on an upward trajectory for life. It means connecting companies to community colleges that can help design training to fill their specific needs. And if Congress wants to help, you can concentrate funding on proven programs that connect more ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs.
BIDEN: I don't know how long it will take. We can and we will get it under 6%. Let's look at where we were when we came to office. The economy was in free fall. The Great Recession hit. Nine million people lost their job, $1.6 trillion in wealth lost in equity in your homes & in retirement accounts. We knew we had to act for the middle class. We immediately went out and rescued General Motors. Romney said, no, let Detroit go bankrupt. We moved in and helped people refinance their homes. Governor Romney said, no, let foreclosures hit the bottom. But it shouldn't be surprising for a guy who says 47% of the American people are unwilling to take responsibility for their own lives. [Rep. Ryan] recently said 30% of the American people are takers. These people are my mom and dad, the people I grew up with, my neighbors. They pay more effective tax than Governor Romney pays in his federal income tax
Simply stated, we're about promoting the private sector, they're about protecting the privileged sector. We are for a fair shot and a fair shake. They're about no rules, no risks, and no accountability.
There's no clearer example of these two different views of the economy than how we reacted to the crisis in the automobile industry. It's sort of a cautionary tale of how they would run the government again and the economy again if given a chance.
A: Senator Biden opposes employment discrimination of any kind--including race, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation. He has consistently supported the Employment Non Discrimination Act to prohibit employment discrimination on basis of sexual orientation.
Q: Many gay & lesbian people serve in the federal government but do not receive the same health insurance and other employee benefits of married couples. Do you support domestic partner coverage for gay and lesbian employees of the civilian federal workforce?
A: Senator Biden believes that federal employees in legally recognized, committed relationships should not be discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation.
A: I would implement every one of the recommendations that have been already made and have not been implemented.
Actually, the opposite is true. All the candidates on the stage had a better "lifetime" labor record than Biden, as measured by the AFL-CIO's ratings of Senate and House votes. The AFL-CIO's latest listings show Biden voting its way 85% of the time over his entire Senate career--the lowest lifetime rating of all the candidates on the stage that night.
Despite this, a Biden spokeswoman said, "Sen. Biden enjoys comparable ratings to his opponents during comparable periods of time." And in any case, the AFL-CIO's "ratings do not equal a track record of getting legislative & practical results for labor."
In 2005 Biden's record was 93%, Clinton's 86%, and Obama's 100%. In 2006 Biden tied Clinton & Obama, with all of them voting with the AFL CIO 93% of the time.
A: My net worth is $70,000 to $150,000. That's what happens you get elected at 29. I couldn't afford to stay in the Congress for the minimum wage. But if I get a second job, I'd do it.
This administration is lined up 10 deep to strip away 100 years of labor progress. They focus on tort reform, court reform, and labor reform--the only three things that stand between the giants & average people. It's time to say "no more."
PROMISE KEPT: (CNN March 6, 2021): The Senate version calls for providing a $300 federal boost to weekly jobless payments and extending two key pandemic unemployment benefits programs through September 6. The agreement would also make the first $10,200 worth of benefits payments tax-free for households with annual incomes less than $150,000.
OnTheIssues ANALYSIS: The extended unemployment benefits under previous legislation was scheduled to end in mid-March [and may get extended again beyond September 6]. The unemployment benefit applies to independent contractors, who are normally ineligible for unemployment.
Denying two million Americans unemployment insurance will wind up costing us more jobs. It just isn't smart. And, cutting unemployment insurance is not only not smart, it's not right either. It would mean telling millions of our neighbors who are out of work today through no fault of their own, that they're on their own.
We all know someone who's hit a rough patch. When that happens in America, we help him get back up on his feet. That's who we are. That's the American way.
So I just don't agree with the folks who've said we can't afford a lifeline for Americans who lost their jobs during the worst recession in generations, but we can afford to extend tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans. That's bad economic policy, and it's also just simply wrong.
As the federation of America’s unions, the AFL-CIO includes more than 13 million of America’s workers in 60 member unions working in virtually every part of the economy. The mission of the AFL-CIO is to improve the lives of working families to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to our nation. To accomplish this mission we will build and change the American labor movement.
The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization`s preferred position.
To: Labor Secretary Elaine Chao
Dear Secretary Chao:
We write to express our serious concerns about the Department`s proposed regulation on white collar exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act. These sweeping changes could eliminate overtime pay protections for millions of American workers.
We urge you not to implement this new regulation that will end overtime protections for those currently eligible. Under current law, the FLSA discourages employers from scheduling overtime by making overtime more expensive. According to a GAO study, employees exempt from overtime pay are twice as likely to work overtime as those covered by the protections. Our citizens are working longer hours than ever before – longer than in any other industrial nation. At least one in five employees now has a work week that exceeds 50 hours. Protecting the 40-hour work week is vital to balancing work responsibilities and family needs. It is certainly not family friendly to require employees to work more hours for less pay.
Overtime protections clearly make an immense difference in preserving the 40-hour work week. Millions of employees depend on overtime pay to make ends meet and pay their bills for housing, food, and health care. Overtime pay often constitutes 20-25% of their wages. These workers will face an unfair reduction in their take-home pay if they can no longer receive their overtime pay.
We urge you not to go forward with any regulation that denies overtime pay protections to any of America`s currently eligible hard-working men and women.
OFFICIAL CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY: Federal Aviation Administration Fair Labor Management Dispute Resolution Act of 2006: Prohibits the FAA from implementing any proposed change to the FAA personnel management system in cases where the services of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service do not lead to an agreement between the Administrator and FAA employees, unless Congress authorizes the change during the 60-day period. Requires binding arbitration if Congress does not enact a bill into law within the 60-day period.
SPONSOR`S INTRODUCTORY REMARKS: Sen. OBAMA: Because what air traffic controllers do is vital to our safety, I became very concerned by a letter I received from Illinois air traffic controller Michael Hannigan. He wrote that `the air traffic controllers are not being allowed to negotiate in good faith with the FAA.`
What was clear in Michael`s plea was the sense that he and his colleagues felt that they were being treated unfairly. I looked into it and came to the conclusion that if we did not restore a fair negotiation procedure, it would threaten agency morale and effectiveness.
The problem is this: the FAA Administrator currently has the extraordinary authority to impose wages and working conditions on her workers without arbitration. In order to do that, she merely has to declare an impasse in negotiations and if Congress does not stop her from imposing her terms and conditions within 60 days, the Administrator can go ahead and act unilaterally. That authority denies air traffic controllers and all other FAA employees the opportunity to engage in and conclude negotiations in good faith.
It is in the best interest of the agency and public safety to have management and labor cooperate in contract negotiations.
EXCERPTS OF BILL:
LEGISLATIVE OUTCOME:Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; never came to a vote.