Organized labor scored a surprise victory in rural Georgia over the weekend. And President Joe Biden was among the Democrats touting it as a key moment in the push to give unions a bigger beachhead in the South.
Workers at a Blue Bird electric vehicle factory in Fort Valley voted Friday to join the United Steelworkers union. It was the first significant organizing election at a factory receiving huge new infusions of cash from Biden-backed legislation, Jonathan Weisman of The New York Times reported.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
The firm is among the big winners from the $1 trillion infrastructure legislation and the federal climate change and tax measure, which promises to turbocharge the electric vehicle industry.
The company’s management firmly opposed the unionization drive, which passed by a 697-435 vote. But the labor effort was buoyed by encouragement from national union leaders and language connected to the federal funding to give unions a leg up in organizing efforts.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, called organized labor’s new foothold in Georgia a “bellwether for the future, particularly in the South, where working people have been ignored.” Others expected it to rev up union efforts at other auto plants in Georgia and the region, especially as Georgia and other states have worked to land new plants with massive headcounts.
“Where is it written that America can’t lead the world again in manufacturing?” Biden said on Sunday. “The workers at Blue Bird, and at companies just like it all over the country, are proving the future can and will be built in America. And union workers will be a big part of that future.”
The Blue Bird facility should be familiar to Georgia political watchers, since U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock has visited the facility and even highlighted the plant in a campaign ad last year.
The Times describes a letter to Blue Bird’s leadership from Warnock and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff about the upcoming union vote as “remarkably timid,” something union leaders said they won’t forget.
The move to unionize in Fort Valley raises larger questions beyond the future of organized labor in the state.
How will the quest to build manufacturing hubs in rural Georgia change the political dynamics in the state? And will greater union strength in Georgia decrease its appeal to potential employers, who have been attracted to the state’s right-to-work culture as it looks for places to park their plants?
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
POOL REPORT. Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Atlanta on Friday for a pair of events meant to pump up Georgia Democrats after the state failed to land the Democratic National Convention in 2024 or an early primary spot early next year.
One of your Insiders served as pool reporter for the VP’s visit, meaning he kept the official log of her movements for the White House press corps while she was here. From the very thorough report:
“Throughout her remarks, she invoked high-profile state Democrats, including former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young and Stacey Abrams, the party's gubernatorial nominee in 2018 and 2022."
After criticizing Republicans in the Legislature for the state’s new abortion limits, election laws and gun access expansions, the report said Harris concluded this way:
“These extremists have a plan to take their agenda national through the courts and blocking access at the ballot box," she said. “These extremists have a national plan to silence the voices of the people and to roll back our progress."
Then, to rising applause: “But here's the thing, the people will not be silenced … We will not be divided, we will stand united. We will stand on the shoulders of the giants like those from Georgia."
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TRUMPED UP. Former President Donald Trump summoned up a reminder on his social media platform of how his 2018 endorsement of Gov. Brian Kemp helped mobilize Republicans behind the governor.
Trump frequently misstates the facts on Kemp’s Georgia victory, claiming Kemp was losing in the polls, but rocketed ahead of then-Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle after Trump’s endorsement. In reality, Kemp had already edged ahead of Cagle in polls, but vastly expanded his lead after Trump weighed in.
The New York Times has thoughts on why Trump brought up the past as it wrote about the former president’s potential vulnerabilities in the GOP presidential primary:
The Trump campaign seemed aware of that dynamic last week as it attacked would-be rivals, not only those clearly preparing to enter the race but also some far from it. On Saturday, Trump laid into Georgia's Republican governor, Brian Kemp, for being disloyal, just days after an article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggested the governor was keeping his (presidential campaign) options open.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
THE FAULT WITH DEFAULT. President Joe Biden told reporters Sunday that he and his staff continue to meet with congressional leaders in hopes of reaching a bipartisan compromise to lift the debt ceiling by early June and before reaching the nation’s borrowing limit.
Those discussions could have ramifications on the upcoming appropriations process and whether Georgia lawmakers will have the money to fulfill their billions of dollars in requested earmarks.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff told us recently that most Americans are not grasping the impact of a potential U.S. default on its debt. He said past government shutdowns, which have kept thousands of government workers at home and limited access to many federal agencies and services, would look tame compared to such a “cataclysmic financial event.”
“We will have widespread destruction of life savings,” said Ossoff, an Atlanta Democrat. “We will have a serious threat to the U.S. dollar itself. It is an almost unimaginable level of financial risk.”
He put the blame for the impasse on House Republicans, who passed legislation coupling a debt ceiling increase with steep cuts to government spending and reversals of several Biden initiatives.
Ossoff said those lawmakers’ message appears to be: “Give us everything we want, or we will destroy the economy.”
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FULL TERM. President Joe Biden has nominated Georgia native Lisa Cook to a full 14-year term on the Federal Reserve Board.
Cook, who became the first Black woman to serve on the Fed, was confirmed by the Senate last year to fill out an unexpired term that ends Jan. 31. During that process, she faced criticism from conservative lawmakers who said she was not qualified for the role.
Cook has a bachelor’s degree from Spelman College and a doctorate in economics from the University of California, Berkeley. She also served on the faculty of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and as a member of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers.
Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote during the May session, joining all 50 Democrats to confirm Cook. She’ll need another majority vote to be confirmed again.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The U.S. House and Senate have evening votes lined up.
- President Joe Biden has no public events scheduled.
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Credit: Rick McKay/Cox
Credit: Rick McKay/Cox
FARM BILL. The debt ceiling isn’t the only focus of negotiations between the White House and congressional leaders.
The four House and Senate agriculture committee leaders — two Democrats and two Republicans — met with President Joe Biden and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack last week to discuss the 2023 Farm Bill, which is in the early stages of being drafted.
The massive package will guide policy and spending on agriculture and nutrition initiatives for the next five years. Among the disagreements between Republicans and Democrats is whether to cut spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) by reducing benefits, tightening eligibility rules, or implementing additional work requirements.
U.S. Rep. David Scott, D-Atlanta, attended the White House meeting as the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee. He and the other members of the bipartisan group released a general joint statement afterward.
“The Farm Bill is a jobs bill,” they wrote. “It is a safety net for farmers and consumers, and it is an investment in our rural communities and the health of the American people. The Agriculture Committees have a long tradition of bipartisan cooperation, and we look forward to continuing that tradition through our work on the 2023 Farm Bill.”
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PRESS CORPS DEPARTURE. FOX 5 Atlanta’s Claire Simms is moving on from her role as a familiar face in the state Capitol press corps.
Simms announced Friday that she’s leaving the station after 16 years in TV news. While she’s been able to live her dreams on air, she wrote, “It is the moments with my children and my family that have become the most precious to me.”
We’re wishing Simms the best of luck in her next chapter, and hopefully a nap.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. Speaking of new chapters, WSB Radio’s Scott Slade stepped back from his daily radio duties earlier this year, a move that only gives him more time with Arlo Slade, his English cocker spaniel.
Slade reports that along with playing fetch and wearing out his people, Arlo’s favorite hobby is retrieving the AJC from the side of the road every morning. “I suppose that makes him a real news hound,” the newsman cracked. It also 100% makes Arlo our Dog of the Day.
Next up for Arlo’s training … digital news.
Send us your pups of any political persuasion — and cats on a cat-by-cat basis, to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
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