White House works behind the scenes to prepare labor leaders for federal employee vaccine requirement

White House officials have reached out to key union representatives over the last two days to lay the groundwork for President Joe Biden's decision to require federal employees to get vaccinated, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

It's a move that represents both the speed with which the White House is moving on the issue and also the recognition that there are an array of key stakeholders that will play prominent roles in the days and weeks ahead as the policy is implemented. Despite Biden's close ties to labor -- and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka's public comments supporting vaccine mandates for workers on Tuesday -- the conversations with both public- and private- sector union officials haven't been seamless, the people said. Some representatives raised concerns about the speed with which the White House was moving toward a position the Biden administration previously hadn't endorsed, as well as potential pushback from union members.