Sara Nelson should be President Biden’s the next Labor secretary

Earlier this month, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh surprised most Washington insiders by deciding to quit the Cabinet to head of National Hockey League Players’ Association. In truth, Walsh has been a disappointment to most labor observers: under his leadership, the Labor Department has kept remarkably low profile during a period of almost unprecedented grassroots union activism. The Walsh Labor Department came up with no major new initiatives, and after more than two years, it still lacks a confirmed head of the critically important Wage and Hour Division.

Worse still, Walsh was largely missing in action during workers attempts to organize at major anti-union corporations such as Starbucks and Amazon; he even told Starbucks workers in Buffalo — who formed the first union at the coffee behemoth in December 2021 — that it would be wrong to speak out on the side of their union fight against a company that has fired over 100 workers for union activism and committed hundreds more unlawful acts. And Walsh’s greatest “achievement” as Labor secretary was to negotiate a settlement in last year’s national rail dispute that failed to include paid sick leave, which ended up alienating large sections of the labor movement, including most of its activist base. Walsh’s alleged skills for bringing both sides together were largely useless when what was really needed was a Labor secretary who would stand up against the greed, lack of concern for public safety and hyper-exploitative business model of the nation’s largest railroad companies.

Farewell, Marty, we hardly knew ye.

Along with Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su, former Clinton Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, and several former Obama-era labor technocrats, Sara Nelson, president of the Flight Attendants Association-Communications Workers of America, is one of the front runners for the next Labor secretary. Former director of Labor and Workforce Development in California, Su is the likely favorite for the position, and she would be the only Asian-American member of Biden’s Cabinet. Stanford- and Harvard-educated Su has many supporters, especially among fellow elite-educated labor advocates, and a stellar record in California; but she has also been an integral part of the (thus far) disappointing Biden Labor Department, she lacks a national platform, and like Walsh, she would be unlikely to be able to establish a high profile as secretary for Labor.

In contrast, Sara Nelson ticks all those boxes. Here are five reasons why she is the best choice for the next Secretary of Labor.

1.     Nelson is by a country mile the most charismatic of the potential candidates for the Cabinet position. Since the start of the pandemic, she has developed a national platform larger than that of any other labor leader, even though she leads the relatively small flight attendants’ union, which has a membership of about 50,000. Unlike the other leading contenders, Nelson could use her position to explain, week after week on national media outlets, why unions and collective bargaining are essential to getting a better deal for American workers. Over 70 percent of the American public approve of unions – the highest figure since 1965; this is not the time for timidity or technocrats. The last thing the Biden administration needs is yet another uncharismatic Labor secretary who, like Walsh, will come and go without barely making a ripple.

2.     Nelson is not afraid to stand up to nation’s plutocrats who violate workers’ rights and then use their wealth to exploit the weakness of labor laws and ensure they pay no price. Billionaire CEOs such as Starbucks’ Howard Schultz, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Tesla’s Elon Musk have repeatedly ridden roughshod over workers’ legal right to join a union. Last week, Tesla fired almost 40 “autopilot” workers in Buffalo, N.Y., the day after the workers had announced a union organizing campaign with Tesla Workers United. Nelson could use the Cabinet office to ensure that egregious lawbreakers pay a cost in terms of national reputational damage, and she could push the nation’s most “pro-union president” to speak out more regularly on endemic corporate malfeasance.

3.     Nelson is capable of inspiring young workers who are at the forefront of revitalizing the labor movement and who are crying out for the kind of bold, unapologetic leadership she would offer. A lot has changed since Marty Walsh was first nominated. Over the past 18 months, we have seen successful union organizing campaigns at Starbucks, Amazon, Trader Joe’s, Apple, REI, and others, all led by young workers. Nelson understands how to communicate with these kinds of workers more than any other labor or political leader in the country, and she is already the de facto president of the most vibrant wing of the labor movement. She has also actually worked for a living, as a flight attendant, whereas most of the other contenders have spent a lifetime as political appointees, elected officials or in elite academic institutions. As Labor secretary, Nelson would have a platform to inspire young activists, who are critical to the future of organized labor.

4.     Nelson might even inspire some of the languid union establishment to offer real leadership and support the self-organizing efforts of young workers. Amid the historic current organizing wave, most of the labor establishment has been happy to sit on sidelines. They don’t believe the young workers at Starbucks and Amazon can succeed, they lack the fortitude to support efforts to take on wealthy, anti-union corporations, and they appear satisfied to hold on to what they have. Nelson, in contrast, has been the labor movement’s most prominent supporter of Starbucks Workers United and the Amazon Labor Union, and along with the new Teamsters president, Sean O’Brien, the only labor leader to appear repeatedly with their young activists. With a different, more engaged, labor establishment, Nelson could have been president of the AFL-CIO, but the nation’s largest unions will always opt for a “safe” chief executive rather than one who might challenge them to provide bold leadership. However, even if the labor establishment isn’t yet ready to embrace Nelson’s talents, the Biden administration should do so, and she, in turn, might succeed in breathing new life into some parts of the union hierarchy.  

5.      Along with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the new chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Nelson’s commitment to get a fairer deal for American workers is already well established. The last two years could have been quite different if Biden had nominated Sanders for his secretary of Labor instead of then-Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. Sanders has said he no longer wants the Cabinet position, but he supports nominating Nelson, who he called a “leading voice for worker rights and a very strong communicator of progressive values,” whose “experience sets her up for success in this job.” With Sanders as head of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and Nelson as secretary of Labor, Democrats could stand up for American workers and repair their tarnished reputation with labor activists.

So far, Joe Biden has largely failed to live up to his pledge to be the most “pro-union” president in American history. This nomination process gives him the opportunity to show which side he’s on. At a recent Open Markets Institute event, Nelson read the last lines from the autobiography of legendary labor organizer, Mother Jones — probably a first for a U.S. union president in many decades — and ended with a rousing, “solidarity forever.” She is the secretary of Labor we need at this pivotal moment in the history of American workers.   

John Logan is professor and director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University.