Biden is 'proudly pro-union,' but can he reverse labor's decline?
WASHINGTON — As Joe Biden launched his presidential run, he made an early stop at the Washington headquarters of the AFL-CIO to meet with its president, Richard Trumka.
The former vice president talked about economic inequality and sluggish wages, analyzing them as a product of the outsize power corporations have over workers, Trumka said.
In other words, he said, Biden talked like a union guy.
Two years later, that memory spotlights the contrast Trumka and many other union leaders see between Biden and former President Barack Obama, whose administration often left them frustrated.
"Obama and [Bill] Clinton both surrounded themselves with a lot of Wall Street people who had no clue," Trumka said in an interview. "We were an annoyance to be dealt with."
Biden has put unions at the center of policy — viewing them as vehicles not only to rebuild middle-class jobs but also to address climate change and racial and gender inequity.
"Our administration will probably prove to be one of the most pro-union administrations that we've
