How did the candidates support working people and all our working families?
Jobs
Joe Biden created 14.8 million jobs. Under President Biden, America experienced the longest streak of sub-4% unemployment in more than 50 years.
(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; The White House, 2/2/24; The White House, 3/11/24)
Donald Trump lost 2.9 million jobs. Under Trump, the unemployment rate increased from 4.8% to 6.3%.
(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Factcheck.org, 10/8/21)
Manufacturing
President Biden is bringing manufacturing home to the U.S. After decades of sending manufacturing jobs overseas, Biden worked with allies in Congress to pass real investment in America’s manufacturing, leading to nearly 800,000 new manufacturing jobs and new plants already announced and under construction.
(Politifact, 12/13/23)
So far, more than 40,000 projects across the country have been announced and 670,000 construction jobs created.
Donald Trump promised to protect jobs in the steel industry, but failed to follow through on cracking down on China’s dumping of steel into the United States. In 2019 alone, more than 16,000 manufacturing workers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lost their jobs.
Oversaw a rise in outsourcing, including the highest rate of outsourcing by federal contractors in a decade.
Retirement
President Biden signed a law ensuring millions of workers would not face poverty in retirement.
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 7/6/22)
Donald Trump threatened the future of Social Security, chipping away at working people’s retirement security through $26 billion in proposed funding cuts.
Trump undermined the fiduciary rule, potentially costing working people more than $17 billion in retirement savings.
(Economic Policy Institute, 2/2/18; The New York Times, 3/11/2019; EPI, 2/2/18)
Unions and Contracts
President Biden is the most pro-union president in our lifetime. He appointed the most pro-union National Labor Relations Board in history, and for the first time in decades organizing was made easier for workers, not harder. The board has gone after illegal corporate union-busting and made it easier for workers to organize new unions. That led to the largest one-year increase in union victories on record.
Biden was the first president to stand on a picket line in support of workers. Biden bolstered the UAW in its contract negotiations by showing up and supporting SAG-AFTRA by making pro-workers statements during its contract talks.
“All workers—including actors—deserve fair pay and benefits,” the White House said.
(Bloomberg Law, 2/13/24; NBC, 9/26/23; Rolling Stone, 7/14/23)
Donald Trump restricted union representatives’ ability to advocate for their members on the job.
He targeted workers’ freedom to negotiate on workplace issues, including reasonable accommodations for those with disabilities, employee training, overtime, telework and flexible work schedules.
He stripped away protections for rank-and-file workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs, prompting a 60% rise in firings in the second half of 2017 alone.
He repeatedly turned a blind eye to misclassifying up to 30% of workers as independent contractors, stripping those workers of almost all labor protections.
Trump crossed the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) picket line during a 2004 filming of “The Apprentice.”
Trump spoke to nonunion autoworkers in Michigan during the UAW strike.
(The Washington Post, 3/16/18; NBC News, 8/8/19; The Washington Post, 9/17/19; Reuters, 12/28/21; IATSE, 10/6/20; Michigan Advance, 9/25/23)
Prescription Drug Costs
President Biden and Congress took on big pharmaceutical companies that have gouged working families for decades and lowered the cost of many expensive prescription drugs, including capping insulin at $35 per month.
(KFF, 1/24/23)
Biden has continued to protect the Affordable Care Act, which has given millions of working families and young people access to affordable health care.
(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 1/24/24)
Donald Trump attempted to overturn the Affordable Care Act in court, which would have provided pathways to test programs that would lower prescription drug costs.
In order to give the appearance of action, Trump announced executive orders that could not be implemented because they conflicted with existing law.
(Center for American Progress, 10/15/20)
Infrastructure
Joe Biden created 14.8 million jobs. Under President Biden, America experienced the longest streak of sub-4% unemployment in more than 50 years.
(The White House; Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, 2021)
Donald Trump promised to “bring back manufacturing jobs and invest $1 trillion to rebuild U.S. infrastructure in Rust Belt states like Wisconsin.” But in his four years in office, Trump failed to advance any infrastructure legislation.
Trump failed to pass infrastructure investments and left the country with a C- infrastructure rating.
(The Washington Post, 10/18/20)
Health Care
President Biden protected the Affordable Care Act, resulting in a historic 21.3 million new subscribers in the marketplace during the open enrollment period for 2024.
Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the American Rescue Plan, marketplace coverage continued to be affordable.
The Biden administration issued a proposed rule, setting minimum hours of care by registered nurses and nurse aides in nursing homes. This is critical to protecting residents and workers over corporate profits.
(The White House, 1/24/24; Economic Policy Institute, 12/20/23)
Donald Trump proposed about $1 trillion in funding cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.
Trump’s health care plan, “Trumpcare,” would have taken coverage away from 24 million Americans.
Trump undermined the Affordable Care Act, increasing the number of uninsured Americans by 7 million.
(The Hill, 2/10/20; The Boston Globe, 3/13/17; Gallup, 1/23/19; The Guardian, 1/23/19)
Health and Safety on the Job
President Biden has funded more workplace inspections, protecting workers from harmful substances like asbestos and heat-related illness and holding companies that break the law accountable.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced rules on heat illness prevention in outdoor and indoor work settings.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Biden administration banned a form of asbestos that is linked to more than 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.
Donald Trump cut federal workplace safety inspectors to their lowest level in OSHA’s history.
He repealed record-keeping rules requiring employers to keep and report accurate injury records.
Trump refused to publicly disclose fatality and injury data reported to OSHA.
He also loosened requirements for federal contractors, overturning a rule requiring companies to disclose labor violations before being awarded a federal contract.
Trump undermined workers’ voice on the job, withdrawing a policy allowing nonunion workers to participate in safety inspections. He proposed eliminating the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, and cutting workplace safety research and training programs.
Trump proposed revoking key child labor protections for teenagers working in the health care industry.
Trump weakened the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s mine safety enforcement, forcing miners to work in hazardous conditions.
Trump halted new rules on styrene, combustible dust, construction noise, infectious diseases, silica and mine safety.
He delayed and proposed rolling back the EPA’s chemical risk management rule, leaving workers, the public and first responders in danger.
(National Employment Law Project, 3/14/19; Federal Register, 7/30/18; Politico, 8/25/17; Forbes, 4/4/17; Bloomberg Law, 1/17/23; The Center for Public Integrity, 7/28/20; National Employment Law Project, 10/26/18; NBC News, 11/15/17; Safety+Health, 8/27/17; The Washington Post, 11/21/19)
Costs and Inflation
Under President Biden, inflation has fallen by nearly two-thirds from its peak, and costs have fallen for food and gasoline. President Biden has openly called on corporations that haven’t dropped prices to pass their savings on to customers.
Biden has helped bring gas prices down more than $1.60 from their summer 2022 peak and lowered the cost of many prescription drugs.
(CNN, 12/12/23; The White House, accessed 03/25/2024)
Donald Trump promised his tariffs on foreign steel would lead to an increase in U.S. manufacturing jobs. In reality, it failed to boost employment and led to cost increases for steel consumers in the auto industry and elsewhere.
About half of the Trump administration’s 25% steel tariffs passed through into U.S. domestic steel prices.
The tariffs imposed nearly $80 billion worth of new taxes on Americans, the highest tax increase in decades.
AI / Technology
In October 2023, President Biden released an executive order on artificial intelligence that seeks to balance consumer and job protections against technological advancement.
The order sets “new standards for AI safety and security, protects Americans’ privacy, advances equity and civil rights, stands up for consumers and workers, promotes innovation and competition, advances American leadership around the world, and more.”
(The White House, 10/30/23)
Freedom and Democracy
President Biden has called for the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
During his 2024 State of the Union address, Biden drew attention to well known voting rights activist Bettie May Fikes, who became known as the “Voice of Selma.”
(The Hill, 3/7/24)
Donald Trump was indicted on felony charges for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump pressured state and federal government officials to overturn results of the 2020 election in more than 30 phone calls or meetings.
Trump has repeatedly praised authoritarian leaders around the world, including Hungary's Viktor Orbán, China's Xi Jinping and North Korea's Kim Jong Un.
(The Associated Press, 8/2/23; The New York Times, 1/8/24; ABC News, 12/17/23)