I don’t want to overstate this but it does make me a bit concerned when I look at the face of the economic transition team. Not a single labor leader was standing behind the president-elect at his first press conference. Here is the list:

David Bonior (Member House of Representatives 1977-2003)

Warren Buffett (Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway–who participated via phone)

Roel Campos (former SEC Commissioner)

William Daley (Chairman of the Midwest, JP Morgan Chase; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Commerce, 1997-2000)

William Donaldson (Former Chairman of the SEC 2003-2005)

Roger Ferguson (President and CEO, TIAA-CREF and former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve)

Jennifer Granholm (Governor, State of Michigan)

Anne Mulcahy (Chairman and CEO, Xerox)

Richard Parsons (Chairman of the Board, Time Warner)

Penny Pritzker (CEO, Classic Residence by Hyatt)

Robert Reich (University of California, Berkeley; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Labor, 1993-1997)

Robert Rubin (Chairman and Director of the Executive Committee, Citigroup; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Treasury, 1995-1999)

Eric Schmidt (Chairman and CEO, Google)

Lawrence Summers (Harvard University; Managing Director, D.E. Shaw; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Treasury, 1999-2001)

Laura Tyson (Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley; Former Chairman, National Economic Council, 1995-1996; Former Chairman, President’s Council of Economic Advisors, 1993-1995)

Antonio Villaraigosa (Mayor, City of Los Angeles)

Paul Volcker (Former Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve 1979-1987)

The closest ally to labor in the group is David Bonior, who was one of the labor movement’s staunchest allies when he was the House whip. But, he isn’t a labor leader. Villaraigosa isn’t bad, too–he wouldn’t have won without labor’s support–but he’s a politician looking to move up and I would not be confident that he would go to the mat for unions.

   And for those of you who think Reich is an ally, forget it. He was FOR NAFTA and I don’t really think you can call his tenure as Labor Secretary as particularly useful to labor. Does anyone remember anything he did for the labor movement? I can’t. No push for significant labor reform. Nada. I’ve watched this guy for a long time and, frankly, he’s a modern-day Zelig–very good at adapting his rhetoric to what can sell. I don’t trust him and neither should you.

   The rest of the list is pretty clear: Rubin, Volker, Schmidt (the head of a massive NON-UNION company), and William Daley (he was Bill Clinton’s "Czar" for the passage of NAFTA–and worked hand-in-glove on that effort with Rahm Emanuel, then a senior advisor to Clinton).

   Now, look, that doesn’t mean it won’t get better–but the bar is set pretty low. Yeah, the appointments to the National Labor Relations Board will be vastly superior. And it will be nice to have a head of the Labor Department who is not Elaine Chao–in other words, someone who understands that the "Labor Department" is not "The Chamber of Commerce."

   But, we need an economic vision and policy that contests Market Fundamentalism. That isn’t simply a vision that says we need some more regulation. It’s much deeper–and you can read what I mean here.

   Put me down as someone who is concerned.