Axios Sneak Peek: 🎬 Heartburn: Labor boss hits Dems — Inside Parler

1 big thing: Union boss - Biden Keystone plan wrong, cost U.S. jobs | Sunday, February 07, 2021

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Amazon   Axios Sneak Peek By Alayna Treene, Hans Nichols and Kadia Goba ·Feb 07, 2021 ⚡ Situational Awareness: George P. Shultz, who served as President Nixon's Labor and Treasury secretaries and President Reagan's secretary of State, died today at 100. Former President Trump's second Senate impeachment trial begins Tuesday. Today's newsletter — edited by Glen Johnson — is 656 words, a 2.5-minute read.     1 big thing: Union boss - Biden Keystone plan wrong, cost U.S. jobs AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Photo: "Axios on HBO"   America's most powerful union leader told Jonathan Swan for tonight's "Axios on HBO" he wished President Biden hadn't canceled the Keystone XL pipeline his first day in office — because it will cost some good-paying union jobs. The big picture: In a fiery interview that also touched on police brutality, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka made the case that Biden — whom he's known 40 years and calls a "friend" — will be different from his predecessors as long as he stays true to his blue-collar roots and unbeholden to Wall Street. Why this matters: Organized labor is crucial to the Biden coalition. But there are significant tensions among environmentalists, the president's team addressing climate change and some parts of the labor movement. The Laborers' International Union of North America said the Keystone decision will cost 1,000 existing union jobs and 10,000 projected construction jobs. "The Laborers' International was right," Trumka said. Go deeper.     2. AFL-CIO leader: Clinton, Obama slighted unions Photo: "Axios on HBO"   Trumka also told Swan that Presidents Clinton and Obama didn't understand unions' importance — and were disappointments to organized labor because of it. What they're saying: "Joe Biden has surrounded himself with people that are worker-friendly, so that in the multitude of decisions that are made every day without the president being involved, they're going to think about the impact it has on workers," Trumka said on tonight's "Axios on HBO." Obama and Clinton — the last two Democratic presidents — "didn't understand the importance of labor and the importance of collective bargaining." "Both of them surrounded themselves with Wall Street people. And so all of their advice was coming from a Wall Street lens." "That's a significant difference and a beneficial one for workers in this country," Trumka added. "And it's one of our reasons for optimism and hope." Biden "still identifies as a blue-collar guy. ... He doesn't aspire to be accepted by Wall Street. He is what he is, and that is a genuinely good human being that cares about working people." Why it matters: Trumka knows many union members feel burned by Obama and Clinton — and the Democratic Party, by extension — because of trade deals and other legislation that overlooked or was antithetical to organized labor. Go deeper.     3. Trumka defends police unions against BLM critics Photo: "Axios on HBO"   Police unions "should be able to negotiate disciplinary stuff" to protect officers from unfair punishment, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka also told Swan during the "Axios on HBO" interview. Why this matters: Following last year's death of George Floyd during an arrest and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests nationwide, law enforcement unions are at the center of a heated debate in the labor movement. Racial justice leaders, the BLM movement and some unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO believe police unions don't belong in the labor movement because they use their collective bargaining powers to shield cops from accountability and block reform efforts. They say it's inappropriate to negotiate leniency for police misconduct and that agreements make it hard to fire officers who abuse their power or mistreat vulnerable minorities. Trumka pushed back, saying without the power to negotiate disciplinary actions, the outcomes could be "capricious" in ways unfair to officers. Among the AFL-CIO's diverse federation is the International Union of Police Associations, which negotiates on behalf of some local police unions. Go deeper.     A message from Amazon Amazon helps vaccinate thousands in its hometown     Amazon has opened its Seattle campus to host pop-up clinics aimed at vaccinating the public against COVID-19. The results: So far, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health has vaccinated 4,600 people through two clinics at Amazon's Meeting Center. Learn about their efforts.     4. Ex-Parler CEO Matze says he didn't want Trump deal John Matze. Photo: "Axios on HBO"   Ex-Parler CEO John Matze tells Axios the social media company's negotiations last summer to bring President Trump onto the Twitter rival were a lose-lose proposition and never got beyond unsigned, nonbinding term sheets, writes Axios Re:Cap host Dan Primack. What Matze says: "I didn't like the idea of working with Trump, because he might have bullied people inside the company to do what he wanted. But I was worried that if we didn't sign the deal, he might have been vengeful and told his followers to leave Parler." Backstory: Buzzfeed reported Friday that Matze and two Parler advisers met at Mar-a-Lago last June to discuss a deal whereby the Trump organization would receive a 40% stake in Parler in exchange for Trump making Parler his exclusive social media home. Trump himself was not in attendance, but his campaign chief and campaign lawyer were there. Matze did not mention the Mar-a-Lago meeting when interviewed Thursday by "Axios on HBO," for an episode airing Sunday. Instead, he said neither he nor other Parler executives had met with Trump or "anyone in the White House" about the former president creating a Parler account. The Buzzfeed story does not contradict that statement, since it references negotiations with Trump "campaign" officials. Go deeper.     5. Pic du jour Photo: Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images   A largely silent West Wing as President Biden spends Super Sunday in Delaware.     A message from Amazon Amazon urges Congress to pass the Raise the Wage Act     An increase to $15 would help 32 million U.S. workers. It's the minimum Amazon pays its U.S. employees. And the company has seen the results firsthand, including: Better employee morale and retention. A surge in job applicants. A ripple effect for local businesses and economies. Learn more.   🙏 Thank you for reading tonight's Sneak. 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