Biden's dealmaker: How Julie Su helped broker a union contract in hostile South
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Julie Su. Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Acting Labor Department secretary Julie Su just helped secure a labor contract for more than 1,500 newly unionized workers at a school bus manufacturer in Georgia — a region typically hostile to unionization.
Why it matters: The contract at Blue Bird Corp., ratified last week, shows how the administration's pro-labor stance, along with the money pouring in from its signature legislation, is changing how some U.S. businesses operate.
The big picture: Su's been actively involved in several key labor negotiations over the past few years — from West Coast port workers to health care employees at Kaiser Permanente to the UAW's talks last year.
- This contract is smaller. Blue Bird Corp. is a 97-year-old publicly traded company lately focused on electric vehicles, as the bipartisan infrastructure law has boosted demand.
- The White House says the deal demonstrates that the transition to a green economy doesn't have to come at workers' expense. Former President Trump told striking autoworkers last year that the EV transition amounted to "a government assassination of your jobs."
- "We have to make sure we have a future of clean air and a future of good union jobs," Su tells Axios in an exclusive interview.
The Blue Bird contract in Georgia comes on the heels of a big union loss — and a big win — at two other Southern workplaces.
- Employees at a Mercedes facility in Alabama voted against unionizing earlier this month; and in April, Volkswagen employees in Tennessee voted in favor of unionizing.
Catch up quick: Blue Bird workers voted to unionize with the United Steelworkers last May — at that point, "the largest union organizing win at a manufacturing plant" in the South in 15 years, per the USW.
- Ahead of that vote, the USW filed more than 10 unfair labor practice charges against Blue Bird — including claims that the company threatened to close the plant or freeze pay if workers approved a union.
- The charges were later withdrawn. Last week, CEO Phil Horlock touted the deal. "We are confident that the agreement will further bolster Blue Bird's position as an employer of choice in the region," he said in a statement.
Follow the money: Blue Bird is on deck to receive nearly $60 million in funding from the EPA's Clean School Bus Program, part of the infrastructure law. The funding goes to school districts, who select companies like Blue Bird to work with.
- The program's juiced demand for electric school buses, driving sales for the company.
- Blue Bird reported record profits earlier this month for its most recent quarter — its stock price has since soared by more than 60%.
Inside the room: Su first met Blue Bird workers last year at a White House meeting for labor organizers in industries facing unionization challenges.
- Then she went down to Georgia about two months ago and met with Horlock, urging him to bargain in good faith for a first contract, she says.
- Su challenged him and the union organizers to reach a contract before the first anniversary of the union vote. They hit that mark last week.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to note that the labor contract at Blue Bird Corp. was for more than 1,500 workers (not 15,000).
