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Martin O'Malley Proposes a “Worker’s Bill of Rights”
An American Bill of Rights for the 21st Century
by, Martin O'Malley
As I’ve traveled across the country, it’s clear that we have come a long way since the Wall Street crash of 2008, when millions of Americans lost their jobs, homes, and life savings. Thanks to President Obama’s leadership, America is creating jobs again — and has for a record 70 months in a row.
Yet we still have urgent work to do to build on that legacy and protect it from Republican attacks — especially when it comes to America’s middle class and the working people who, too often, have been shut out of the recovery.
That’s why today I’m proposing a “21st Century Workers Bill of Rights” to restore fairness to the economy and give working families back their right to achieve the American Dream.
My bill of rights is a compact between our government and American workers that will ensure rising and livable wages; provide equal pay for equal work and the ability to balance work and family; give every American access to affordable health care and the option of debt-free college; expand Social Security so that every person can retire with dignity; and put an end to the days of fast-tracking bad trade deals.
No one who works for a living should be living paycheck-to-paycheck or struggling to scrape by. Yet today, 70 percent of Americans are working harder, but making less than they did twelve years ago. That’s holding back too many families from joining the ranks of our middle class — and hurting small and local businesses that rely on middle class customers to succeed and grow.
Minimum Wage
Up until the Reagan years, the minimum wage was enough to keep a couple above the poverty line. Today, they’d be living in poverty. As President, I will fight to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, however and wherever we can. I will fully implement new federal rules so millions more workers receive overtime pay for overtime work. And I will strongly support the right to full-time work — embracing policies that give workers more control and predictability over their schedules, and help part-time workers who want to take on more hours.
Labor Unions
Strong labor unions built America’s middle class — once the biggest and strongest in the world. But today, they are facing increasingly vicious attacks, including a Supreme Court case brought by right-wing billionaires to gut public employee unions. I expanded collective bargaining rights as Governor, and as President I will be a vocal champion of labor law reform: to make it easier to form unions by modernizing the organizing process, and create tougher penalties for employers who violate the law and stand in the way of democracy in their workplace.
Childcare
Childcare costs more than public university tuition in a majority of states — and only 12 percent of American workers have access to paid family leave. When women succeed in the workplace, America succeeds. So I will fight to dramatically expand childcare tax credits, so no family has to pay more than 10 percent of their income on safe, quality childcare. And I proudly support the FAMILY Act to give all workers — male and female, married and single, gay and straight — 12 weeks of paid family leave.
Social Security
Because of reckless behavior on Wall Street and failed trickle-down economic policies, Americans can no longer rely on pensions when they retire. With wages stuck in the mud, the vast majority cannot even afford to save for retirement: today, nearly one in three Americans has no retirement savings at all. I have committed to expand Social Security benefits — not cut them or merely “enhance them” — to provide a foundation for a more secure retirement to all those who have worked hard to achieve it.
College Tuition
Fifty years ago, the average GM employee could pay for a year of a son or daughter’s college tuition on just two weeks wages. Today, we are saddling our graduating kids and their families with more than $1.3 trillion in loan debt. I have a plan to give every student in America the opportunity to go to college debt-free, within five years — and to give every child a quality education so they can graduate from high school ready for college and a good-paying job.
Trade Deals
Finally, bad trade agreements and policies have caused thousands of American factories to close and millions of American workers to lose their jobs. As president, I will oppose policies that cost America more good-paying manufacturing jobs and rig the rules even more in favor of multinational corporations. I will reject trade deals like the TPP that are written by corporate lobbyists behind closed doors, and give workers the chance to read deals before our so-called representatives in Congress are forced to vote on them.
These are the specific steps we must take so people who work hard for a living don’t have to live paycheck to paycheck or worry about providing for their families.
read: https://medium.com/@MartinOMalley/as-i-ve-traveled-across-the-country-it-s-clear-that-we-have-come-a-long-way-since-the-wall-street-7cb428d1bd6d#.stjagio9x
O'Malley Bill of Rights for the American Worker
Our country has come a long way since the Wall Street crash of 2008, when millions of families lost their jobs, homes, and life savings. Thanks to President Obama’s leadership, America is creating jobs again—and has for a record 70 months in a row. Yet urgent work remains to protect and build on President Obama’s legacy, by growing America’s middle class and taking action to make wages go up again for all Americans.
As president, Governor O’Malley will fight for American workers, protecting their fundamental rights in order to rebuild the American Dream:
“Our economy is not money, it is people –all of our people.” –
Martin O’Malley
1.The Right To Balance Work And Family
Governor O’Malley strongly supports the FAMILY Act to ensure that all parents—men and women, gay or straight, married or single—are able to take at least 12 weeks of leave, with pay, in order to care for newborn children or other loved ones. He will also set a goal of guaranteeing that no family, especially low-and middle-income families, has to pay more than 10 percent of their income on safe, affordable childcare in a given year. To begin to meet this goal, he will dramatically expand and federal childcare tax credits, on a sliding scale based on need.
2. The Right To A Predictable Weekly Schedule.
Governor O’Malley will lobby for, pass, and implement the Schedules That Work Act to give workers more control over their schedules, while still meeting the needs of employers.
Erratic and constantly changing schedules leave many workers—especially in growing low-wage industries—unable to plan ahead to make ends meet. People who work hard should be able to earn a decent living while caring for their families.
3.The Right To Full-Time Work.
Governor O’Malley will launch a new, national campaign to promote full-time employment, including supporting policies like the San Francisco Retail Workers Bill of Rights that give part-time workers the choice to take on additional hours before employers hire additional part-time workers. Millions of part-time workers want to work more hours but do not have the option of going to full-time work.
4.The Right To Overtime Pay For Overtime Work.
Governor O’Malley will ensure that people who work more are paid more. He supports the Obama Administration’s proposal to update restore access to overtime pay to millions of workers—and will fully enact these new overtime rules as president.
5.The Right To Earn A Living Wage.
Governor O’Malley will fight to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, indexed to inflation, while supporting efforts to make local minimum wages “living wages.”
6.The Right To Bargain Collectively For Better Wages
Governor O’Malley will champion legislation to make it easier for workers to gain union representation by modernizing the organizing process, bolstering the enforcement power of the NLRB, and creating tougher penalties for employers who violate the law and stand in the way of democracy in their workplace. To fight wage theft and unfair labor practices, he will partner with worker centers and alt-labor organizations to enforce our workplace standards to the fullest extent of the law.
7.The Right To Retire In Dignity, Not Poverty.
Governor O’Malley has a plan to expand, not cut or merely “enhance,” Social Security benefits, while adjusting the benefits formula to help middle-class and lower-income Americans the most. His retirement plan will also dramatically expand access to employer-based retirement plans, while protecting seniors from risks to their financial security—including by fully implementing the Obama Administration’s proposed fiduciary rule.
8.The Right To Equal Pay For Equal Work
Governor O’Malley will make closing the gender pay gap one of the most important goals of the federal government. He will fight to finally enact the Paycheck Fairness Act, holding employers who do discriminate in pay accountable and preventing retaliation against women who speak up. He will also work to make pay data publicly available by sex, race, and ethnicity, so that all employees can see that they’re making a fair wage for their job.
9.The Right To Affordable Health Care.
Governor O’Malley has set a national goal of ensuring access to quality and affordable health care for all. By implementing “all payer” reforms, he will overhaul our health care system to pay for the value, rather than the volume, of care—while expanding insurance coverage, bringing down prescription drug prices, investing in research, and providing better long-term care.
10. The Right To A Quality Education And Debt-Free College.
Governor O’Malley will fight to make a quality education available to every child in America, by investing to make pre-K universal, equitably funding schools, setting high standards for all students, making teaching America’s most respected profession, and preparing all students for college and a good-paying job. His higher education plan will give every student in America the opportunity to go to college debt-free, within five years.
11.The Right To Read Trade Deals Before Our Congress Votes On Them.
Governor O’Malley will only support free trade agreements that establish strong and enforceable rules for fair competition and create opportunity for American workers. He will reject trade agreements like the TPP that are written by corporate lobbyists behind closed doors, and ensure that all workers are able to read trade deals before they are rubber-stamped by Congress. ###
read plan: http://martinomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/OMalley-Worker-Bill-of-Rights.pdf
Martin O'Malley ?@MartinOMalley
I expanded collective bargaining rights for public employee unions as Gov. and I will protect & strengthen them as President. #WorkTogether
O'Malley for Iowa ?@omalleyforia
READ @MartinOMalley's plan for #DebtFreeCollege within five years: http://omly.us/debt-free-college … #DemForum #IACaucus
Martin O'Malley ?@MartinOMalley
Our country needs new solutions and bold ideas—read my 15 goals to Rebuild the American Dream. http://omly.us/om-15-goals
11 replies
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that we are even talking about this in 2016. i just saw a program about Switzerland. they have to have 4 weeks paid vac a year. there was a referendum to increase it to 6 weeks, and the people voted AGAINST IT because they felt 4 was enough and they wanted their companies to do well.
and here we are not even guaranteeing sick days for people.
...good to archive in the O'Malley forum, too. 
