The American Federation of Government Employees was the first federal employee union to officially endorse Harris. Montinique Monroe/Getty Images
Federal worker union shifts presidential endorsements to Harris
Labor groups at federal agencies touted Harris’ record both as a senator and vice president, particularly her co-chairwomanship of a White House task force on union issues.
A union representing federal workers moved quickly this week to shift their support from President Biden to Vice President Harris in the aftermath of Biden’s decision Sunday to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election.
Biden announced that he would step aside in favor of Harris Sunday, following weeks of concern about his fitness to serve another four years after a disastrous debate performance against Republican former President Trump last month. State delegations quickly united behind Harris this week, all but assuring she will be the party’s nominee following next month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The American Federation of Government Employees was the first federal employee union to officially endorse Harris, noting that the vote by the union’s National Executive Council was “unanimous.” Couched as a “reaffirmation” of the union’s previous endorsement of Biden last summer.
AFGE touted Harris’ work as a senator to protect federal employees at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as her tenure as co-chairwoman of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, a panel convened by Biden as part of his effort to strengthen labor unions in both government and the private sector.
“During her time in the U.S. Senate, she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with AFGE to secure critical PPE and sick leave for front-line workers during a pandemic, keep the government funded to prevent a disastrous shutdown, secure much-needed compensation for victims of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, defend safe staffing levels and collective bargaining rights across federal agencies, protect the diversity and human rights offices of federal agencies, and nominate pro-union justices to the Supreme Court,” the union wrote. “As vice president, she has led important work on the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, delivering results for working people across the country, and has been an important voice for change.”
In a separate announcement, AFGE Council 238, which represents more than 8,400 Environmental Protection Agency employees, issued its own endorsement for the vice president. The EPA union had endorsed Biden just last month. Council 238 President Marie Owens Powell highlighted Trump’s anti-union policies while in office and both Trump’s official platform and the Heritage Foundation-led GOP transition plan, Project 2025.
During the Trump administration, EPA implemented a largely pro-management contract on the union, handed down by the Federal Service Impasses Panel, then dominated by conservatives, severely restricting union officials’ use of official time and restricted what issues could be subject to grievance proceedings. Earlier this year, the labor group announced that it had negotiated a new contract officially removing Trump-era language and adding new provisions aimed at protecting employees’ scientific integrity.
“The Trump administration shackled our union members’ ability to protect human health and the environment,” Powell said in a statement. “Kamala Harris unequivocally supports federal employees and their right to organize, and she supports them in their fight against climate change . . . EPA only survives if Trump’s Project 2025 never sees the light of day. We must do everything we can to preserve the hard-won environmental gains EPA workers have achieved.”