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**NOVEMBER 13, 2020**

Meyerson on TAP

Who's in Labor?

This morning, the

**Prospect**posted a column by our own Bob Kuttner

that looked at the field of candidates and potential candidates to
become President-elect Biden's labor secretary. Like Bloomberg's
Josh Eidelson
,
Kuttner noted that AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is lining up
unions' support for Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. Walsh is a solid liberal
who previously headed the Boston AFL-CIO's Building and Construction
Trades Council. Eidelson quoted leaders of the AFL-CIO's largest
unions-AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFSCME's Lee
Saunders-commenting effusively about Walsh taking over the Labor
Department.

Part of the logic behind a Walsh pick is that he's already effectively
presided over a large institution (Boston city government) and that
he's a liberal who comes from the white working class-the
electorally elusive white whale that many Democrats, particularly in
labor, still seek to reel in.

Through no fault of his own, Walsh doesn't personify the new face of
labor, which is increasingly female and nonwhite. Neither does another
candidate, Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, who's heir to the Michigan Levin
dynasty and positioned in the heart of what remains of unionized
American manufacturing.

As Bob points out, a further strong candidate for the job is Bill
Spriggs, an African American economist who's the AFL-CIO's chief
economist and a professor at Howard University. (Bill is also a member
of the

**Prospect**board.) Other potential candidates who would better
personify labor's new face include Julie Su, the stellar commissioner
of labor in California, and Thea Lee, the AFL-CIO's former trade
economist and deputy chief of staff, and currently the president of the
Economic Policy Institute (from which, full disclosure, the

**Prospect**subleases its offices).

Should neither Su nor Lee be Biden's labor pick, there are still
important administration posts that each could fill supremely well. Su
would be a natural for David Weil's old post as the head of the
DOL's Wage and Hour Division, what with her stellar record combating
wage theft in California. Lee would be a great pick for U.S. trade
representative, as she led labor's efforts against both NAFTA and
permanent normal trade relations with China, and has brought
considerable intellectual firepower to the battle for American workers.
As such, a Trade Rep Lee might do even more than a Labor Secretary Walsh
to help win back those workers displaced by corporate globalization who
still blame the Democrats for their plight.

If Biden is for some mysterious reason inclined to blow off the union
movement, he could choose Seth Harris, who was deputy labor secretary in
the Obama administration, for his top labor post. Harris's writings
arguing for a special, nonemployee status for Uber and Lyft drivers
infuriated many worker rights advocates, not least organized labor.

It's no secret that Bernie Sanders also wishes to become Biden's
labor secretary-probably more so now that any Sanders-authored
legislation isn't likely to make it through the next Congress, and any
pro-worker initiatives are likely to be confined to the executive
branch. Precisely because I love Bernie, however, I'm reluctant to see
him lose his independence and capacity to keep building an explicit
left, which he'd have to forfeit if he went into the administration.
Moreover, with control of the Senate teetering on a knife's edge, it
may not be the better part of valor for Biden to appoint any sitting
senators to administration posts. I love Elizabeth Warren, too, but the
same logic applies to her bid to become Treasury secretary.

Conundrums of a transition happening amid our royally fucked-up
politics.

~ HAROLD MEYERSON

Follow Harold Meyerson on Twitter

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A New Name in Play for Biden's Labor Secretary

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh joins a (mostly) solid list of hopefuls. BY
ROBERT KUTTNER

Biden Cabinet Hopefuls' Unusual Lease: Break in Case of Appointment

The next president's foreign-policy team was confident they'd be
back in the White House. BY JONATHAN GUYER

Weaponizing Anti-Semitism, State Department Delegitimizes Human Rights
Groups

Authoritarian regimes and illiberal forces will exploit the new U.S.
policy. BY LARA FRIEDMAN

Voting Is Over, but Election Misinformation Continues

The Big Tech platforms did a slightly better job this year, but
falsehoods and incitement were still able to spread. BY BRITTANY
GIBSON

Homes for Us All

Rethinking the American dream in cities and suburbs BY RICHARD D.
KAHLENBERG

Unsanitized: What Will It Take to Shock People Out of Their Routines?

There's no political leadership as the virus spread worsens. This is
The COVID-19 Daily Report for November 13, 2020. BY DAVID DAYEN

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