Obama Reverses Bush Executive Orders, Creates Middle Class Task Force
President Barack Obama today reversed three Bush-era anti-worker executive orders and created a Cabinet-level task force to rebuild the nation’s middle class. In a White House ceremony this morning attended by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and other union leaders, Obama signed three executive orders that reverse a series of orders by then-President George W. Bush, which govern the way federal contractors deal with unionized workers.
The three new executive orders:
- Require federal service contractors to offer jobs to current workers when contracts change.
- Reverse a Bush order requiring federal contractors to post notice that workers can limit financial support of unions serving as their exclusive bargaining representatives.
- Prevent federal contractors from being reimbursed for expenses meant to influence workers deciding whether to form a union and engage in collective bargaining.
Educators Praise Obama’s Choice of Duncan as Ed. Secretary
The leaders of education unions today praised President-elect Barack Obama’s selection of Arne Duncan, superintendent of the Chicago school system, as education secretary in the new administration. AFT President Randi Weingarten, Jill Levy, president of the School Administrators (AFSA), and National Education Association (NEA) President Dennis Van Roekel said Duncan has shown genuine commitment to the key priorities for an incoming education secretary.
In a statement, Weingarten says:
There may be times when we will differ, but we believe we will agree fully that America’s students and teachers need an education secretary committed to focusing on real solutions for closing the achievement gap and providing every child with a rigorous, well-rounded education that prepares him or her for college, work and life.
