President Barack Obama began this week the arduous task of reversing the Bush administration's anti-working families policies.

Welcoming labor movement leaders, small business owners, and representatives of not-for-profit groups to the White House Friday, Jan. 30, Obama issued three executive orders that will promote the rights of workers; he also announced the formation of a new White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families.

The first executive order prevents taxpayer dollars from going to federal contractors who attempt to intervene when their employees decide to organize a union in their workplace. In addition, the president ordered that employees of federal contractors be informed of their rights under federal labor law. Finally, Obama ordered that qualified employees should be able to keep their job even when the federal contract changes hands, helping government agencies to retain experienced workers.

The Obama executive orders reverse previous Bush administration rules that allowed employers who hold federal government contracts to interfere and even violate federal labor laws by preventing workers from joining or organizing labor unions.

In a statement, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said, 'Today’s actions show that the Obama White House is the working families’ White House.'

Change to Win Federation Chair Anna Burger added, 'Today, the Obama administration reaffirmed its commitment to America’s workers. Taken together, these orders show that the administration recognizes the federal government's responsibility, as the nation's largest purchaser of goods and services, to set model employment standards for private sector workers, as well as for the direct federal workforce.'

Obama announced these executive orders at the same time he unveiled the official creation of the White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families. The task force will be headed by Vice President Joe Biden in consultation with Obama's top economic advisors and relevant cabinet heads.

With a GDP that collapsed by an annual rate of nearly four percent and a record number of people seeking unemployment benefits, focused and urgent action is needed to reverse the economic recession and pave the way for a new productive economy, President Obama said.

Working families 'need us to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan,' he stated, 'a plan that will save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next few years and make investments that will serve our economy for years to come.'

In addition to creating jobs and rebuilding America's infrastructure, the president's economic recovery package would invest in renewable energy sources, modernize health care, and improve mass transit systems.

'What we can't do is drag our feet or delay much longer. The American people expect us to act,' Obama added.

In addition to reviving the economy, President Obama stated that his administration's goal is to promote an economy that 'create[s] jobs that sustain families and sustain dreams; jobs in new and growing industries; jobs that don't feel like a dead end, but a way forward and a way up; jobs that will foster a vibrant and growing middle class, because the strength of our economy can be measured directly by the strength of our middle class.'

Vice President Biden noted, 'Over the course of America's last economic expansion, the middle class participated in very few of the benefits. But now in the midst of this historic economic downturn, the middle class sure is participating in all of the pain.'

The Middle Class Working Families Task Force will be studying and recommending 'the most far-reaching and imaginative solutions' to problems working families face from the need for good jobs, keep their homes, get access to affordable health care and quality education and much more.

The White House set up a new Web site at which will allow the public to follow the activities, discussions and recommendations of the task force. According to the Web site, the task force's first public meeting will convene in Philadelphia in late February to discuss ways to create 'green jobs.'