Labor and Employment Partner Amy Gaylord was quoted in a WorkForce article discussing how employers should prepare for a federal push to unionize workplaces. In late April, Biden announced through an Executive Order the formation of a pro-union task force to examine existing policies and provide recommendations on how they can “promote worker organizing and collective bargaining in the federal government,” and to recommend what new policies should be created.
"I think that employers who want to remain union free would be wise to make sure they are paying competitive wages and benefits so that their employees will feel that a union is unnecessary. I believe that is one reason Amazon was able to prevail in Alabama. They were already paying extremely competitive wages and benefits. We have heard unions and this administration talk a lot about a $15 minimum wage. Most of the warehouse workers at the Amazon facility in Alabama were already earning $15 an hour or more. So, Amazon workers did not believe that a union was necessary and voted against union representation."