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For Immediate Release
December, 16 2020, 11:00pm EDT
Contact:
Johanna Kichton, 240.206.1145, press@peoplesaction.org
People's Action and 24 Member Groups Urge Biden Admin in New Letter to Transform DOL and Protect Workers
Groups Demand Biden Meet the Moment and Transform DOL’s Focus to Support and Build Worker Power in an Era Domineered by Corporate Control and Gig Economies
WASHINGTON
People's Action and 24 directors of its member groups today sent a letter to the Biden administration urging it to transform the Department of Labor (DOL) to support and build worker power and protection. In an era of renewed labor struggle where record numbers of people face unemployment, industries and supply chains are disrupted by COVID-19, and the economy is domineered by corporate monopolies and contract gigs that leave workers vulnerable, the Biden administration must advance the boldest possible agenda for working people.
"As President-Elect Biden considers his choice for Secretary of Labor, we need him to take seriously the work that is ahead to truly address the economic and racial inequities that have grown in our economy," People's Action and the member group directors wrote. "We need a Secretary of Labor ready to bring about structural reforms in concert with workers and movements. We need more than simply enforcement of laws on the books; we need labor law reform that will put more power in the hands of workers and, in turn, more money in their pockets."
After a round of fairly moderate appointments to cabinet positions, People's Action groups lift up the need for a bolder type of leader behind the DOL--a trusted progressive standard bearer who can both advance structural change and galvanize the worker movement necessary to bring it about.
In the letter, the groups emphasize actions the Biden administration should take to advance bold, structural reform and work alongside the labor movement such as:
- Fighting corporate greed and monopolies with a focus on ending poverty and redistributing wealth from corporations to workers;
- Building new, diverse economic and political power through the unionization of sectors long left out of the unionized workforce and that primarily employ Black and Latinx people such as domestic workers, caregivers, farmworkers, retail workers, fast food workers, gig workers, warehouse workers; and
- Appointing a Secretary of Labor who will prioritize working alongside the labor movement and restructuring the economy to one that works for everyone.
The full text of the letter may be found here.
The People's Action member organizations that signed on to the letter are United Vision for Idaho (ID), Illinois People's Action (IL), Rights and Democracy (NH & VT), Community Voices Heard (NY), Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (IA), Maine People's Alliance (ME), Ground Game LA (CA), West Virginia Citizen Action Group (WV), ONE Northside (IL), Down Home North Carolina (NC), New Hampshire Youth Movement (NH), Missouri Jobs with Justice (MO), Pennsylvania Stands Up (PA), Hometown Action (AL), Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (NV), People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) Buffalo (NY), Michigan United (MI), Jane Addams Senior Caucus in Action (IL), OneAmerica, Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition (NY), Colorado People's Alliance (CO), Citizen Action of Wisconsin (WI), The People's Lobby (IL), and Citizen Action New York (NY).
People's Action builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through issue campaigns and elections.
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“We believed that she was being authentic and honest with us," said one Virginia labor leader. "She just flat-out flipped."
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Labor unions are feeling betrayed after Virginia's Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed a bill on Thursday that would have restored collective bargaining rights for half a million public sector workers.
Virginia is one of the most restrictive states in the country for public sector bargaining, a holdover from the Jim Crow era when the General Assembly and other state legislatures across the South sought to crush the power of a public workforce with many Black employees.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, Virginia has one of the largest public sector pay gaps in the country, with state and local government employees making about 27% less on average than their private-sector peers, and it is similarly stratified in other states with weak collective bargaining rights.
Spanberger, a former US representative who was elected governor this past November, made pro-union messaging central to her affordability-focused platform. She decried President Donald Trump's executive order stripping federal workers of collective bargaining rights last year and said that as governor, she'd "look forward to working with members of our General Assembly to make sure more Virginians can negotiate for the benefits and fair treatment that they earn.”
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When a bill to immediately mandate collective bargaining rights to 500,000 workers was proposed in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly, she introduced amendments aimed at watering down the bill—making it optional for employers to recognize unions, delaying the full implementation until 2030, and introducing what unions called a "kill-switch" that would have allowed future governors to revoke collective bargaining power.
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LaNoral Thomas, the president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Virginia 512—a union which helped lead the charge to pass the bill—told the Virginia news site Dogwood that her union had "high hopes" for Spanberger when she was elected.
“We believed that she was being authentic and honest with us," Thomas said. "She just flat-out flipped. It is shocking.”
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