WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) — A Biden Administration task force on organised labour on Monday issued a set of recommendations that could make it easier for federal workers and contractors to unionise.

The report submitted to President Joe Biden included 70 distinct policy proposals, according to a release by the White House. Biden created the task force chaired by Vice-President Kamala Harris, with Labour Secretary Marty Walsh as vice-chair, through an executive order last April.

The report argues that a decadeslong drop in union membership has coincided with a rising share of income going to the top 10 per cent of earners. It further says that most Americans have a favourable impression of unions and would join one if given the option in a vote. Yet the Labour Department reported last month that only 10.3 per cent of workers belonged to a union in 2021, down from 20.1 per cent in 1983.

But the report also has stirred a backlash from many business groups that say union strikes and work stoppages could worsen economic challenges such as the supply chain squeeze and high inflation.

“Today’s report from the White House task force is nothing more than pro-union propaganda and exemplifies how entrenched pro-union allies are in this administration,” said Kristen Swearingen, chair of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, which is composed of more than 500 business groups including the US Chamber of Commerce and the American Trucking Association.

Many of the proposals to increase unionisation are specific directions focused on the federal government as an employer. The Interior Department is among four agencies that will now let union organisers talk with employees on federal property, a rule that applies to private sector employees on contract with the Government.

The departments of transportation and commerce will set preferences and guidelines for federal grants to foster union jobs.

There will be a ban on federal contract dollars going to anti-union activities by the Defence, Health and Human Services and Labour departments as well as the Office of Management and Budget.

Other proposals include efforts to improve workers’ awareness of their rights and to enforce existing labour laws. The task force plans to submit a follow-up report in six months to describe how agencies are implementing the policies and to issue new recommendations.