In keeping with the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to show its support for organized labor, the U.S. General Services Administration has instituted a rule that allows for solicitation by union organizers in spaces dedicated to government contracting.
Through the new edict, union advocates will now be permitted to recruit commercial government contractors on behalf of union groups within the bounds of GSA facilities in the hopes of educating, promoting and advocating to the industry members about the potential benefits of union membership, GSA said Friday.
“Today’s rule removes barriers to worker organizing and collective bargaining for federal contractors, allowing union membership to become more accessible,” commented Robin Carnahan, administrator of GSA.
Carnahan also indicated that the move could serve as an economic equalizer that diminishes hierarchy and elite social structures.
The new decree is effective immediately. Its launch comes with a public comment period of 60 days, during which GSA will accept feedback and gather information on how to proceed and adjust the ruling and others like it.
The ruling asserts that labor entities who are attempting to represent government contractors conducting their jobs in GSA facilities are not barred by the law that prevents solicitation, posting or dispersal of promotional materials on the property that applies to other self-interested parties.
It came about after the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment submitted a recommendation. The task force was formed via Executive Order 14025.
