WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama signed a series of executive orders today that he said should ‘level the playing field’ for labor unions in their struggles with management. Obama also used the occasion at the White House to announce formally a new White House task force on the problems of middle-class Americans. He named Vice President Joe Biden as its chairman. Union officials say the new orders by Obama will undo Bush administration policies that favored employers over workers. The orders will: – Require federal contractors to offer jobs to current workers when contracts change. – Reverse a Bush administration order requiring federal contractors to post notice that workers can limit financial support of unions serving as their exclusive bargaining representatives. – Prevent federal contractors from being reimbursed for expenses meant to influence workers deciding whether to form a union and engage in collective bargaining. ‘We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests,’ Obama said during a signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House. ‘I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, it’s part of the […]