Labor: The Debate Over Workers' Rights
According to a recent report from WIS News 10 in South Carolina:
THE CANDIDATES' VIEWS AT A GLANCE
There are few surprises here. Barack Obama broadly supports expanding labor's right to organize, including the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow workers to form unions by simply collecting signatures from a majority of the workforce. He also supports raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation.
Republican rival John McCain seldom mentions these sorts of workplace issues in the presidential campaign (they're not discussed on his website, suggesting his labor agenda is more likely reactive than proactive. However, on labor and workplace legislation, his sympathies lie mostly with business interests. He opposes the Employee Free Choice Act.
THE OBAMA AGENDA, IN DETAIL
Barack Obama supports labor's right to organize on several fronts. He co-sponsored (along with nearly every other Senate Democrat) the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow a card check (the signatures of a majority of the workforce) to determine whether a union is formed, replacing the secret ballot. He would "fight attacks on workers' rights to organize," especially at the National Labor Relations Board. He also supports a ban on permanently replacing striking workers.
Additionally, Obama would raise the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2011, and index it to inflation. He backs expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act. Obama would require companies that wrongly classify employees as independent contractors to pay back taxes. He would beef up the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and improve whistleblower protection. He supports legislation to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work and to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Obama Record: Obama is endorsed by every major union, and rates highly on labor's legislative scorecards. Conversely, the Alliance For Worker Freedom, an organization dedicated to the "promotion of free and open labor markets," has rated Obama at the bottom of the Senate in each of the three years he's served there...click to continue.
