Protecting Workers' Rights

In times of high unemployment, workers have fewer options and are more likely to tolerate abuses. We will defend basic labor standards and the right of workers to get justice. We will also resist attempts by the public sector to follow in the footsteps of corporate union busters who used bankruptcy to break union contracts and evade pension obligations. We also stand with workers around the world who deserve a right to organize. We will not allow globalization to create a race to the bottom, in which companies relocate in the countries with the fewest labor protections.

• Stop abuse of municipal bankruptcy (AB 155 – Mendoza). No employer, public or private, should use bankruptcy protection to break the promises they made to their workers. A recent court case held that bankruptcy judges can nullify labor agreements. California is one of just 12 states with no state standards or oversight for municipal bankruptcy. We need a fair process to protect our members and our contracts.
• No free trade pact with Colombia (AJR 27 – Torrico). Colombia is the most dangerous place in the world to organize a union. Thousands of union members have been murdered simply for trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. The government has done nothing to protect unionists or hold their killers accountable. The US should not sign a trade agreement with a nation that is unwilling to protect its workers.