I not only believe unions play a critical role in American society – and that if we are to have any hope of meeting the challenges of the 21st century, it will start with a vibrant labor movement fighting for fair wages, worker protections and security in retirement.
I’m a strong supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act because I believe there is a direct connection between the decline of union membership and the growing gap between the rich and poor in this country. As President, signing it into law will be priority number one when it comes to polices impacting working families. And I believe it will take someone with the right experience and relationships to break that deadlock in the Senate.
I’ve also introduced the Re-empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradeworkers (RESPECT) Act, which would amend the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to modify the definition of supervisor in order to ensure that no employee is unjustly denied his or her right to join a labor union. At a time when the National Labor Relations Board is so clearly toothless and ineffectual when it comes to protecting workers’ rights to organize, the RESPECT Act will ensure that more workers will be able to unionize and collectively bargain for the wages and working conditions they rightly deserve. It’s an idea whose time has come.
With that kind of answer, one would be hard pressed not to endorse him.
Likewise, John Edwards can talk just as well. This answer is also found in his AFL-CIO questionnaire:
Organized labor has been the most important anti-poverty movement in American history, strengthening the middle class and providing good-paying jobs for millions of Americans. Unions have fought for and made better the lives of every working man and woman by giving them a voice. We need stronger unions in this country, and we need a national effort to get them.
I am a proud supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act. Illegal employer efforts to block union drives have unfortunately become commonplace. To level the playing field, we need to make it easier for workers to organize themselves into unions. If a Republican can join the Republican Party by signing their name to a card, any worker in America ought to be able to join a union by doing exactly the same thing. Making the Employee Free Choice Act the law of the land will be a top priority when I am president.
His record on fair trade is 63%. He voted against NAFTA for Africa (twice), Chile and Singapore, and Fast Track 2002 (once). He voted for China PNTR and Fast Track 2002 (once). He did not vote on the Australia FTA.
That said, this is what the AFL-CIO has to say about fast track:
Flawed trade policies cost American jobs, put downward pressure on U.S. wages and working conditions, erode the ability of governments to protect public health and the environment and have contributed to political and economic instability and growing inequality in the rest of the world.
Clinton, Dodd, and even a strong labor candidate like Edwards, as one can see, have inconsistent records on free trade. Sometimes they have been against free trade, and sometimes they have been for free trade. America needs a president that is 100% for fair trade in America and has a consistent record. Yet, on a grading scale where 65% is passing, Clinton, Dodd, and Edwards fail. That’s no good when considering that whoever wins the Democratic nomination will be running against a Republican who will be ready to prey upon and exploit any weaknesses the Republican Party can find.
Dennis Kucinich has a 93% fair trade voting record, and it isn’t 100% because he was not present to vote for the Morocco Free Trade Agreement. He voted the fair trade position on Fast Track 1998, 2001, 2002, NAFTA for Africa (twice), China PNTR, WTO withdrawal (twice), and the NAFTA expansions to Chile, Singapore, Australia, Central America, Bahrain and Oman.
In fact, if this doesn’t convince you that he is the best candidate for labor unions, I don’t know what will:
I have a 100% labor voting record [if you don’t count his no vote on the Morocco FTA]. I am a member of local 600 of the IATSE, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO. I am the leading candidate in this race when it comes to having consistently brought economic issues of importance to workers to the table, including trade policies; universal single payer not-for-profit healthcare, universal pre-Kindergarten, universal college education.
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