Labor

The right to organize unions, bargain freely and strike when necessary is being destroyed by employers and their representatives in government. Today, nearly one out of ten workers involved in union organizing drives is illegally fired by employers who wage a campaign of fear, threats, and slick propaganda to keep workers from exercising a genuinely free choice.

And as union membership falls, so do the wages of all working people, union and non-union alike. We support efforts to overcome these legal handicaps, especially in the South and Southwest where the laws are most hostile. We also must dedicate ourselves to fighting for a complete overhaul of this country’s labor laws.

1. We must support the irreducible right of working people, without hindrance, to form a union and to bargain collectively with their employer. This right was guaranteed under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935.
2. It is imperative that employees enjoy workplace democracy, which includes the following:
3. We support the enactment of living wage laws that apply to all workers. A major consequence of this law will be the lessening of the ever-widening gap between CEOs’ income and workers’ pay.
4. Agricultural and other excluded workers must be covered by federal labor laws, except where existing state laws offer more protection.
5. We encourage cooperative ownership and management of enterprises.
6. We support day-care service offered at every workplace when feasible, or reasonably near-by when not feasible at the workplace.
7. Management’s ability to close its workplace and move to a lower-pay locale must be circumscribed to the degree that it protects the local workforce and their job security.
8. We support the establishment of a reduced-hour work week and at least one month of vacation per year for all workers.
9. The ever-widening gap between rich and poor is destructive of democracy and creates an uneven playing field for economic opportunity. Public welfare that depends on hand-outs from the corporate rich reduces democracy by that same amount. Every citizen must have the leverage necessary to become a productive member of the economy and the society in which we live.
10. All workers have a right to a safe and humane working environment. A lack of adequate enforcement of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) laws and/or insufficient standards put many workers at risk. We should support the following safety policies:  a) Protect and enforce OSHA laws.  Insist on adequate testing of equipment and funding of enforcement procedures. b) Inform workers of workplace hazards. Employers have a responsibility to protect workers from those hazards. c) Legislate full funding for worker safety programs at both the state and federal levels. d) Insist on agricultural practices that don’t endanger farm workers. Put agricultural practices under the jurisdiction of OSHA.
11. We stand firmly opposed to privatization and contracting-out of public services. A government that works for us would provide critical goods and services that should not be run for profit.

Source: Green Party

Labor – Workplace Democracy

Labor Unions

Working People

Green Party on Jobs

GoodJobsForAll

Bernie Sanders Stands With American Workers On Strike

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The Green Party Issues Index

Green Party Platform on the Issues

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Specific Issues Index

from Creating Better World