Biden praises Amazon union effort at labor event

He said a government task force on worker organization he launched a year ago sought “to make sure the choice to join a union belongs to workers alone.” Last week some 55% of workers at a Staten Island warehouse voted to form the first U.S. union at Amazon, America's second-largest private employer, building on recent grassroots successes by labor activists pushing into new industries.

President Joe Biden drew loud applause at a labor event on Wednesday, cheering on New York workers at an Amazon.com Inc warehouse for having voted to form a union by saying: “And by the way, by the way, Amazon here we come. Watch. Watch.”

Widely considered the most pro-union U.S. president in decades, Biden took aim at the online retailer during a speech to the North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) Legislative Conference. He said a government task force on worker organization he launched a year ago sought “to make sure the choice to join a union belongs to workers alone.”

Last week some 55% of workers at a Staten Island warehouse voted to form the first U.S. union at Amazon, America's second-largest private employer, building on recent grassroots successes by labor activists pushing into new industries. Employees at 10 U.S. Starbucks locations have likewise voted to unionize as well.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has said it may file objections, due on Friday, before the election outcome in New York is certified. Biden has moved quickly to oust government officials deemed by unions to be hostile to labor and reversed rules of past President Donald Trump that critics said weakened worker protections.

His task force, which includes more than 20 heads of agencies and Cabinet officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, is an effort to help reverse decades of decline in union membership and power, labor experts said.