Labor - Obama Presidency Oral History

After taking office, Obama reversed several anti-labor executive actions taken by the Bush administration, signed legislation expanding the legal rights of victims of pay discrimination, and appointed pro-union personnel to the Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). But more sweeping, secure change would require labor law legislation. Of such legislation, the labor movement’s priority was widely understood to be the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which, as a presidential candidate, Obama had committed to pursuing. If passed, EFCA would amend key provisions of the National Labor Relations Act to make it easier for workers to form unions: its “card check” measure would allow workers to secure NLRB recognition if more than 50 percent of employees submitted signed cards expressing their desire for a union, assign neutral arbitrators to help unions and employers agree first contracts, and increase penalties for employers who discriminate against employees attempting to unionize. Obama and White House officials expressed support for EFCA, but the bill died in the Senate, unable to secure a filibuster-proof majority. In their interviews, labor leaders and administration officials reflect on EFCA’s failure, and consider its status in relation to other of the administration’s first-term legislative priorities. 

With labor legislation unlikely after the failure of EFCA and the arrival of the Republican House majority in the 112th Congress, the White House attempted to use the executive and administrative powers of the presidency to enact its preferred labor policies. At the time, more than twenty percent of the American workforce was employed by companies holding federal contracts, so the administration could improve conditions for millions of workers by introducing new requirements to federal procurement contracts. Among other actions, Obama signed executive orders to raise the minimum wage for federal contractors, and to protect them from employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. 

The White House also had discretion to shape the enforcement of US labor law through appointments to the NLRB. Senate Republicans, however, repeatedly opposed Obama’s nominees, jeopardizing the quorum the NLRB requires to issue rulings. Interviews in the project archive provide details about the impact of this opposition on NLRB activities, the administration’s use of “recess appointments” to circumvent it, and major NLRB investigations and rulings. 

Despite the hostility of congressional Republicans, and in response to persistently-high unemployment, Obama delivered a major address to a joint session of Congress in September 2011 in which he urged lawmakers to pass the “American Jobs Act.” The bill would have injected more than $400 billion into the US economy by cutting payroll taxes, building infrastructure, and averting public-sector layoffs. But despite the public advocacy of the president and his cabinet secretaries, most of the proposed measures languished in Congress. In their oral histories, White House speechwriters and advisors remember this effort, and discuss its connection to Obama’s increased focus on inequality throughout the 2012 reelection campaign. 

While many of the administration’s executive and administrative actions were well-received by the labor movement, elements of the administration’s domestic and foreign policy worsened tensions between organized labor, the White House, and the Democratic Party. These elements included the administration’s pursuit of bi- and multi-national trade agreements, especially the Trans-Pacific Partnership with eleven other Pacific Rim countries; promotion of charter schools and interest in linking teacher compensation to student performance on standardized tests; and support of excise taxes on high-cost employer-provided health insurance plans in the Affordable Care Act. These issues are discussed in greater detail on their respective topic pages.

Though many interviews in the project archive focus on issues involving large, established unions, the collection also provides coverage of new labor organizations and activism that emerged during the Obama years, and in response to the effects of digital technologies on work in contemporary America. Among other stories, activists and organizers narrate the rise of the Fight for $15 movement among fast food workers, provide details about efforts to organize workplaces online and with digital tools, and consider the effects of the “gig economy” on conventional organizing. 

The Obama Presidency Oral History collection’s coverage of work and labor intersects and overlaps with several other topic areas in the project archive, including Financial Crisis and the Economy, Education, the Asia Rebalance, Elections and Campaigns, Republican Opposition, and Democrats.