Issue Position: Labor

Issue Position

Mike has a long history of defending the rights of working people in Illinois. Mike cosponsored the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) immediately after taking office. He believes that the right to organize is the backbone of the American success story and that unscrupulous employers must be held to account if they impede the ability of employees to communicate and make informed decisions on their right to choose whether or not to form a union.

Mike has consistently voted to defend Davis-Bacon Act requirements to maintain prevailing wage provisions in all publicly funded projects. He has also consistently voted to support Project Labor Agreements and to maintain the National Mediation Boards (NMB) fair and democratic election rules for air and rail workers deciding to join a union.

Mike is passionate about defending the rights of public sector workers. He spoke out in favor of the right of public workers to collectively bargain during the recent struggle in Wisconsin, pointing out "all of the first responders who answered the call on September 11th were government employees." He cosponsored H.R. 235, the Social Security Fairness Act, which would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset in current Social Security law. This impacts teachers, police officers, firefighters, postal workers, civil servants, and nurses who begin second careers which require them to pay into the Social Security system.

Mike also cosponsored legislation to preserve six day delivery in the postal service and protect the pension funds of postal workers, and successfully opposed efforts to tax public sector pensions to pay for health care reform. He has been a vocal opponent of cuts in Medicaid funding which would have a devastating impact on the health care workforce and the health plans of public sector workers. He co-chaired a hearing on the subject with Representative Jan Schakowsky and led an Illinois delegation letter opposing the proposed cuts. He is also a cosponsor of H.R. 2381, the Nurse and Health Care Worker Protection Act, requiring the Department of Labor to issue safety standards to eliminate the manual lifting of patients that nurses currently must endure.

Mike has written letters to the Administration demanding that all trade agreements include provisions to support human rights, worker rights, and environmental protections, and he has pressed for passage of extensions to the Trade Adjustment Assistance program.

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