Biden to sign executive order on labor standards during Michigan visit

President Biden on Friday is set to sign an executive order intended to ensure federal agencies promote strong labor standards such as workplace safety, high wages and pathways to join a union.

Biden will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., where he will visit a union training center to meet with workers and apprentices who have benefitted from investments during his presidency. The White House said he will use the stop to sign a “Good Jobs” executive order, which calls on agencies to prioritize various labor practices.

The executive order will direct agencies to adopt voluntary union recognition and neutrality with union organizing, prioritize equal pay and pay transparency, support workforce development and support workplace safety.

To ensure implementation, the order establishes a task force in the White House that will coordinate policy development and be co-chaired by the secretary of Labor and the director of the National Economic Council.

The White House touted Friday’s order as the latest step from Biden to prioritize workers and labor standards. The administration cited his creation of a Made in America office, a White House task force on worker organizing, a government rule to protect workers from extreme heat on the job and federal investments in apprenticeships.

Biden’s trip to Michigan comes as he is increasing his travel, with a focus on his commitment to labor unions and his administration’s investments in communities across the country.

The president traveled to Pennsylvania on Labor Day alongside Vice President Harris to tout their support for organized labor, and he went to Wisconsin on Thursday to highlight $7.3 billion federal funding for rural electric cooperatives around the nation to build or purchase climate-friendly power.