Democratic Contenders Promise Labor Reforms

As five of the Democratic candidates for president each made his pitch to CWA members at the Chicago convention, one thing was indisputable: For unions and working families, the difference between the current administration and any one of the Democratic contenders would be night and day.

All of the speakers promised to push for card-check organizing legislation and other swift changes in laws and regulations governing unions and workers' rights, pledging to level the playing field that is now weighted so heavily in favor of employers.

Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut addressed the convention, in that order.

Here's some of what each man had to say:

• Gephardt spoke of his dad being a union milk truck driver in St. Louis. "My dad used to say, 'We have food on the table because I'm represented by a collective bargaining unit called the Teamsters. And we have a roof over our head because of that union.' He also used to say, 'We have a middle class in America because we have labor unions. Other countries don't.' I have never forgotten that."
  
  Now, Gephardt said, "We have seen an administration that is as hostile to the middle class and the working families and labor unions as any administration that has ever served in the White House.
  
  In addition to card check and neutrality to put an end to employers' intimidation tactics, he pledged first contract arbitration so companies can't drag their feet and called for "triple back pay for the unlawful dismissal of union organizers."
  
  
• Kucinich said the 2004 election "is a moment when we are challenged to determine not only the direction of our country but the direction of the labor movement itself.
  
  If he is elected president, he said, "We will have a workers' White House where the right to organize, the right to strike, the right to collective bargaining, the right to decent wages and benefits, the right to be able to have a secure retirement are guaranteed.
  
  "I will instruct the Justice Department to begin the work of repealing those sections of Taft-Hartley that undermine the right to organize. I will instruct my administration to move forward with an effort to challenge any federal contractor who doesn't want to provide the right to organize. We'll cancel federal contracts if they do not give their workers the right to organize."
  
  
• Kerry said workers "deserve a president who spends his time fighting to give Americans a living wage, not destroying overtime," referring to the administration's latest assault on workers.
  
  He spoke of talking with workers who were harassed or fired when they tried to unionize. "We deserve a president who will appoint people to the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) who respect labor law, appoint a Labor secretary who comes out of labor and who will put someone in a position of power to enforce the organizing rules of our country," he said.
  
  He recalled how his own experience with unions began in college. "I became a Teamster when I loaded and unloaded trucks at First National stores in Massachusetts. And I learned a lot about the size of the paycheck that I got as a consequence and the workers' rights and benefits that came with it."
  
  
• Dean promised card check, a ban on captive audience meetings and a 90-day limit for the NLRB to hear appeals "so they can't drag out things forever once you have won your card check."
  
  "We are going to enable people who work in jobs that are not union to get unionized, because we are going to have card check in this country so Wal-Mart cannot union-bust anymore," he said.
  
  Like the other candidates, he also pledged changes in NAFTA and other trade pacts. "We are going to change the North American Free Trade Agreement and the WTO so we have labor and environmental standards with every single trade agreement. And we are going to stop the flow of manufacturing jobs, and we are going to stop moving information-based jobs offshore, by letting people know who is answering their calls."
  
  
• Lieberman blasted the way the administration has treated unions as "the enemy," saying, "In my opinion, unions are the real ally of the government in doing what the Declaration of Independence said we are supposed to do, to help people secure the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
  
  "America has given much to the world, many great inventions, probably second only to democracy. The great invention and contribution was the American middle class. That is what unions are all about.
  
  "So I am here to tell you that innovation and unionization go together. They must go together. Innovation is all about creating opportunity and helping lift people up into the middle class and to stay there. Unions have exactly the same goals. The fact is, we cannot afford not to have organized labor help march us to the next economic frontier."