End Roadblocks to the Middle Class for Millions of Americans
The right of workers to organize and bargain collectively is a basic principle that contributes to the definition of what is a human right. It has helped build a strong middle class and a strong nation, and is an underpinning of many international agreements. It is a core standard that the United States uses to measure adherence to democratic norms throughout the world.
Across America, workers are being stripped of this basic freedom.
Each year, more than 20,000 workers are illegally fired or discriminated against for exercising attempting to organize. Many employers make an art of it - hiring union busting "consultants" to help defeat organizing drives. And even if employees overcome all the odds, in one-third of all union election victories, workers still do not have a collective bargaining agreement two years after the election.
42 million workers who are not in a union have say they would like to be represented by one. 42 million workers - more than three times the number of workers presently represented by unions in the United States.
42 million workers who are unable to exercise their rights.
Paychecks are shrinking and health care is skyrocketing while CEOs earn millions. In today’s economy, we need policies that give workers a fair shake.
The Employee Free Choice Act will make it easier for men and women to join a union in their workplace. The legislation would give workers a fair and direct path to form unions through majority sign-up, help employees secure a contract with their employer in a reasonable period of time, and toughen penalties against employers who violate their workers' rights.
The Employee Free Choice Act can restore the balance, giving more workers a chance to form unions and get better health care, job security, and benefits – and an opportunity to pursue their dreams.
A Prevailing Wage That Helps Construction Workers and Maintains the Middle Class
It’s not a high profile issue, but the Davis-Bacon Act has done more than almost any other legislation to bolster paychecks for millions of American construction workers. The U.S. Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 is a tried-and-true policy that prevents federally-funded construction projects from driving down local area wage standards.
The prevailing wage is rarely as good as what SMWIA members or other union construction workers earn, but it does prevent federally-funded projects from driving down wages—and equally prevents artificially inflating wages.
Communities and employers are protected by this law when it keeps the wage standards of low-wage areas from being imported into high-wage areas, or visa-versa. Rural and urban workers and contractors are helped along with both union and non-union employees.
There have been many attempts to eliminate the Davis-Bacon Act over its long history. These attacks typically come from corporate groups seeking to drive wages below community standards in order to increase profits, all at the expense of the workers who build those projects, the taxpayers who finance them and communities which rely on them.
Most elected officials—including most Republicans and independents along with all Democrats support the benefits the law provides.
Fighting for Fair Trade That Protects Workers and Communities
Corporations have had their way with U.S. trade policy since the passage of NAFTA in 1994. So-called free trade policies have hurt America’s middle class and further impoverished much of the developing world.
Today we do not have free trade—we have trade controlled by a select group of global corporations.
Trade affects everyone. Our current trade policy has destroyed 3 million good jobs in the United States and Canada. In the last five years, man-hours under the National Maintenance Agreement have declined 46 percent. There are fewer factories and plants in the U.S. and Canada to build or maintain.
Rising trade deficits threaten our security—other nations that are not necessarily friendly to us are holding trillions of dollars we spend on foreign goods and could send our economy into a tailspin by dumping their dollars.
A global economy with real fair trade that protects workers can lift up poor nations and improve life in wealthier nations. That can only happen if the voices of working people are heard. Trade agreements must require our trading partners to include worker protections and labor standards such as fair minimum wages, reasonable work hours, safe workplaces and the freedom to join together in a union. Trade laws must be shaped by representatives of the people, not under fast track deals made in shady backrooms.
A Comprehensive Improvement in Health Care Coverage for All Americans
Rising costs are putting health care out of reach for more and more working families—and putting employers who provide health care at an unfair competitive disadvantage. In 2006, employer health insurance premiums increased by 7.7 percent—twice the rate of inflation. Since 2000, health insurance premiums have risen 78 percent.
Employers who pay for health coverage for their employees are now forced to compete by cutting wages or shifting costs to workers. The average worker with health care coverage paid 143 percent more for premiums between 2000 and 2005.
For SMWIA members, this has meant a severe curb on wage gains—it is estimated that more than half of all pay increases won at the bargaining table now go towards health care cost increases.
In the richest nation on Earth, 47 million Americans are without health care coverage, with 8.3 million of them being children. • Due to soaring health care and prescription drug costs, families are having to make choices that no one who works for a living should have to make—choices between treatment and medication or paying for other necessary items like heating, food or gas.
While SMWIA members are fortunate to have access to health care, most construction workers have no health care insurance, despite working in some of the most dangerous occupations.
Everyone should have access to quality affordable health care, without exclusions or discrimination against those with pre-existing conditions, health status, age, race or ethnicity. Coverage should be portable and everyone should have a choice of doctors and other health care providers. • Reducing waste, improving efficiencies, curbing excess profits, and focusing on preventive care can help rein in health care inflation.
Until there is a comprehensive solution to the health care crisis, any reform efforts should not undermine those with existing coverage or further punish employers who provide coverage.
Get America Moving Again with A Commitment to Investing in Our Nation’s Infrastructure
For America to continue to compete we must strengthen our infrastructure and build the next generation of roads, schools, waterways, airports, subways and railways.According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the estimated cost to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure is $1.6 trillion.
We have little choice—our country, economy and transportation needs are growing, and the situation will grow worse with delay. Over the next 50 years, the U.S. population is expected to grow by 140 million to 435 million. Our highways today carry 246 million cars and trucks—in less than 50 years, 400 million vehicles will crowd our roadways. At the same time, rail tonnage is expected to grow by 63 percent by 2035.
From China to India, countries competing with the U.S. are investing in their infrastructure. For example, according to the AASHTO, China is close to completing a 53,000-mile National Expressway System which will rival the 47,000-mile U.S. Interstate System.
The SMWIA supports investing in our nation’s infrastructure using every responsible funding mechanism available—and we should ensure that infrastructure projects carry Davis-Bacon wage protections to protect local community wage standards, increase productivity and ensure that construction jobs are good jobs which can support American families.
For every billion dollars in federal infrastructure investment, 50,000 good jobs can be created. Those jobs—when protected by Davis-Bacon—allow construction workers, whether union or non-union, to earn a living wage that can be reinvested in our communities whose governments are dependent upon their tax dollars and whose small businesses are dependent upon their spending.
Protecting Social Security
Social Security is the nation's most important program for retirement security.
It is a guaranteed, risk-free secure system. It was created to help supplement workers' employer-sponsored pension and personal savings. It is considered the "crown jewel" of our nation's social safety net because it has cut poverty among the elderly by two-thirds.
Some Americans (20%) rely on Social Security as their sole income.
Social Security is a demonstration of America's values. Workers know that if they work and pay taxes, they will have earned a secure retirement. Workers earn Social Security during the years they work before retirement and help pay for the Social Security of future generations.
Workers contribute 6.2% of their payroll tax into a trust fund to pay for their Social Security benefits upon retirement. Low-and-middle-income workers pay this tax disproportionately. Employers pay a matching 6.2% tax.
Social Security uses the average gains in a worker's lifetime to calculate an initial level for retirement disability, and survivor benefits. To ensure stable income replacement over time, the formula is adjusted for wage growth, instead of for inflation. Social Security currently faces a dilemma because people are living longer; 77 million baby boomers are nearing retirement age.
Because today's birth rate is low, there now exists a large drop in the worker-to-beneficiary ratio to fund the system for future generations. There is no immediate need to change Social Security. It is not in crisis.
Social Security has been able to guarantee workers full-benefits upon retirement, and will continue to do so for many years to come.
Long-term projections for Social Security are more optimistic now and government actuaries have pushed back the date of projected insolvency (from 2029 to 2042). The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the trust fund will last even longer (2052). The shortfall can be corrected with a few legislative fixes to Social Security, not dismantling it.
Improvements must be based on solid accounting, not gimmicks or individual accounts that put a quick buck into the hands of Wall Street's money managers.