Issue Position: Labor

Issue Position

Some people say that the age of Organized Labor is coming to an end. I believe that circumstances today are getting more and more similar to those that led to the birth of the organized labor era. Once again, we need labor unions to set the framework for fair treatment of workers, to ensure enforcement of safety rules, and to be a voice for workers in negotiations. Anti Union so-called "Right To Work" laws are more accurately characterized as "The Right To Work For Less - Much Less." It is no coincidence that the decline of the Middle Class has mirrored the decline in unions.

Giant corporations should be required to pay their workers a fair wage. Instead, large companies like Walmart advise their employees on how to apply for Food Stamps and Medicaid. One study found that "a single 200-employee Walmart store costs taxpayers more than $420,000 a year" in SNAP and Medicaid payments to employees (Source: House Committee on Education and the Workforce). Walmart - the largest employer in the world - uses the U.S. taxpayer to subsidize its payroll.

People who work hard to support their families should be paid a wage that allows them to do so. Workers should not need to rely on Food Stamps and Medicaid. "Minimum wage" should at least meet the minimum needs of a family.

Workers in States with a strong union presence ​are consistently paid more than workers who live in anti-union states (Wall Street Journal). This difference in wages applies to all workers who live in those states, not just those who have a "union job". Workers in pro-union states are likely to have better access to affordable health care and stronger retirement plans. Most importantly, workers in pro-union states are less likely to be injured or killed on the job or because of the job.

​As today's working-class continues to shrink and corporations like Walmart continue to rake in record profits while cutting back on workers' hours and pay and benefits, we need to remember how the twentieth century started. We need to remember why it is we have a middle class. We need to support Organized Labor as they re-tool and prepare to fight a new kind of battle, in a new kind of economy, to ensure that our middle class is not permanently left behind.

Corporations like CostCo are proving that good paying jobs with unionized workers getting good health and retirement benefits is a working model for record profits. As a Congressman I will support incentives for businesses like CostCo and I'll continue to support Organized Labor.

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