President Joe Biden has taken credit for being one of the most pro-union presidents in U.S. history—and many construction sector employer and labor sources say Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris would take a similar approach if she wins in November.
The vice president "always has been a pro-labor and a pro-building trades elected official,” says Jim Brewer, director of government affairs for the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU).
Harris cast deciding tie-breaking votes in Congress for the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. Each included significant pro-labor provisions—including an estimated $86-billion infusion of funds under the former to keep struggling union multi-employer pension funds afloat, and larger tax breaks and credits for employers from the latter if they pay prevailing wages and use registered apprentices on clean energy projects.
Harris also chaired a 2021 White House multi-agency task force to support employee rights across all federal projects and programs that made more than 70 recommendations for how the executive branch could use existing authority to boost workers and unions.
President Biden approved all of them in 2022.
At Harris rallies and in speeches—including her acceptance of the Democratic party nomination in August and the Sept. 10 debate with Republican candidate Donald Trump—she has consistently emphasized her middle-class roots and support for creating opportunities for workers, labor and small businesses, including entrepreneurs. The Trump campaign has dismissed such pledges as nothing more than “platitudes” without substance.
Building trade unions and members of the AFL-CIO have nearly all endorsed Harris. However, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters released a statement Sept. 18 stating that the union would not endorse either candidate in the upcoming election.
Polling among the union's membership favored Biden before he dropped out of the race, but support for the Democratic ticket among Teamsters has waned since then, with no majority support for Harris and no universal support for Trump by members. But on Sept. 19, the Harris campaign released a statement saying that 11 Teamsters' locals and joint councils representing more than 1 million workers endorsed her for president.
A Seat at the Table
While a Kamala Harris/Tim Walz administration would be a boon for labor unions and their members, some construction industry groups worry that firms that choose not to unionize could be left out of opportunities to weigh in and shape regulatory policy affecting their businesses and workforces.
“We feel like the Trump administration would be much more interested in welcoming all of the construction industry, whether they have union agreements or not, to rebuild America,” says Ben Brubeck, Associated Builders and Contractors vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, representing one of the few industry groups to have formally endorsed the former president.
According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data, about 10.7% of construction workers in 2023 were members of labor unions, and 11.4% were represented by unions—down from 11.7% and 12.4%, respectively, in 2022. The federal agency data also show that workers represented by unions earned nearly $200 a week more than non-union workers in 2023.
ABC and other industry groups have sought to litigate regulation they feel is harmful to their members. One is a Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council rule finalized in 2023 that requires prime contractors and subcontractors working on federal projects valued at $35 million or more to sign a project labor agreement. ABC and one of its chapters filed suit in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Fla., and awaits a ruling in the case.
Focus on Training
Unions expect that Trump would roll back many pro-labor executive orders and regulations on prevailing wages, misclassification of independent contractors and other protections enacted during the Biden term and could seek to revive a program to broaden registered apprenticeship programs to include other workforce development training programs, NABTU’s Brewer says. “We’re very concerned about that being a reality if he were to be re-elected,” he says.
Industry groups support a broader net for different types of apprenticeship programs. “Anytime an administration is supporting and encouraging people to pursue careers in construction is a good thing, but we shouldn't limit the size of the funnel to get people in, and we need to appreciate that there are multiple pathways into construction,” says Brian Turmail, vice president of government affairs and workforce at the Associated General Contractors of America— which does not endorse presidential political candidates.
The Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association and other allied signatory contractor groups would push back against efforts to "water down” current criteria for registered apprenticeship programs, says Stan Kolbe, executive director of government and political affairs.
He says existing registered apprenticeship programs represent the “gold standard” in training. “Projects are incredibly complex, and the days of assembling workforces project by project with the hope that skilled labor shows up in sufficient numbers is not a model for megaprojects of the highest complexity,” Kolbe says. Group members are signatory contractors with the Sheetmetal, Air, Rail & Transportation Union.
Immigration Policy
Beyond labor policy, the two candidates also have significant differences in their workforce approaches in general, including the hot-button issue of immigration policy. Trump has made immigration and border security central to his campaign, characterizing undocumented workers as “migrants” and criminals taking away jobs from legal citizens.
Harris noted during her August acceptance speech that when lawmakers earlier this year reached a bipartisan deal on one of the strongest border security packages negotiated in recent history, it was Trump who convinced his loyalists not to support it for fear of handing the White House a victory.
Construction groups for years have advocated for comprehensive immigration reform as a way to address worker shortages—pushing for legal status, if not full citizenship.
AGC’s Turmail says the fact that immigration is such a divisive and emotional issue indicates that “our current system is broken” and that in construction, with continuing and significant labor shortages, “we’ve got to do a lot more to rebuild our domestic pipeline for recruiting and preparing people for [careers in] the industry. While we do that, we should look at ways to allow more people to lawfully enter the country to work in construction.”
He adds that having a large pool of undocumented workers in the U.S. does not benefit “the workers who are easily exploited, and it doesn't benefit responsible contractors who were underbid by irresponsible contractors who exploit undocumented workers.”
While there appears to be bipartisan support for congressional action to address the problem, there has been more talk than action so far, says Turmail.
