As an affiliate of the national AFL-CIO, the Utility Workers have signed on in support of five core principles that illustrate the best of trade unionism and provide a measure of our expectations as working people:
Worker Empowerment
Stronger unions will aid in addressing the economic, social justice and public health crises facing America. By enacting the PRO Act for the private sector and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act for public sector workers creating a national task force on collective bargaining, and rescinding anti-labor executive orders, the Biden administration can put working people first.
Worker Safety and the Pandemic
To safeguard American workers, the nation must guarantee access to free vaccines and rapid testing, issue emergency COVID-19 standards from OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), and ensure adequate supplies of personal protective equipment, adequate paid sick and family medical leave, and access to childcare.
Good Jobs and Public Investment
Once the latest COVID-19 stimulus bill is complete, focus on building back better, starting with a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure package containing federal labor standards, and domestic sourcing requirements. Raise labor standards across the board, fight workplace discrimination, build a more just immigration system and a more equitable tax structure to make the global economy work for working families.
Racial Justice and Democracy
Organized labor urges the Biden administration to name a racial equity czar to lead a task force in addressing structural racial equity issues in jobs, access to healthcare, criminal justice, and policing on which the current public health crisis has shone a stark light. As fundamental threats to democracy and the rule of law have emerged, the task of reform has grown urgent.
Economic Security
The labor movement seeks real solutions to America’s ongoing economic security crisis by providing pension relief, increasing Social Security benefits, reducing prescription drug prices, lowering Medicare eligibility to age 50 and creating a public option, strengthening the Affordable Care Act, rebuilding unemployment insurance systems, and establishing a postal banking system.