{"id":1643,"date":"2019-10-15T06:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T06:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uniontrack.com\/blog\/?p=1643"},"modified":"2019-10-17T13:07:32","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T13:07:32","slug":"pro-union-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniontrack.com\/blog\/pro-union-candidates","title":{"rendered":"The Democrats Presidential Primary: A Look at Pro-Union Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ken Green
\nCEO\/Founder
\nUnionTrack, Inc.<\/a><\/p>\n

The 2020 presidential election will be crucial for the labor movement. Though he courted working-class voters during his campaign for the presidency, and won the support of many of them, President Trump and his administration have been steadily working to erode the strength and relevance of unions and the rights of workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has not fulfilled many of his campaign pledges and, in fact, he\u2019s attacked many of the institutions that are important to labor,\u201d says Ken Sagar<\/a>, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.<\/p>\n

To turn the tide, unions will need an ally in the White House.<\/p>\n

Here is a brief look at the pro-labor Democratic candidates and how they say they will address workers\u2019 needs. And courting unions is a key tactic for most of them. The majority of these candidates have a favorable view of the labor movement and are communicating a pro-worker agenda.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That said, labor leaders and union members will need to sift through a lot of information to find the candidate who aligns with their vision for the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The path to the nomination and the White House runs through the labor movement,” says Richard Trumka<\/a>, president of the AFL-CIO. Trumka says unions are looking for a candidate who \u201chas more than platitudes\u201d on the labor movement and genuinely puts workers first.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at the front-running Democratic candidates, as determined by the September debate and listed here alphabetically.<\/p>\n

Joe Biden<\/h2>\n

Former Vice President Joe Biden<\/a> is no stranger to unions and workers\u2019 issues. \u201cI make no apologies. I am a union man,\u201d Biden<\/a> declared during his presidential campaign kickoff at a Teamster\u2019s union hall in Pittsburgh.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a senator, he supported the Employee Free Choice Act, which would have made it easier for workers to unionize. As a candidate, he supports a $15 minimum wage and making it easier for workers to form unions. His pro-labor stance made him the first candidate to receive an endorsement from a union, the International Association of Firefighters<\/a> (IAFF).\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He knows that a strong middle class means a strong America, and we know as president, he will stand up for all the patriotic Americans who want nothing more than to earn a decent wage, send their kids to college, have affordable health care and a decent and secure retirement,\u201d IAFF President Harold Schaitberger<\/a> says of Biden.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cory Booker<\/h2>\n

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker has a progressive record on workers\u2019 issues. As a senator, he has advocated for a $15 minimum wage and supported bills that would make it easier for workers to unionize \u2014 bills that include those for the Workplace Democracy Act and the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His Worker Dividend Act<\/a> seeks to push companies to pay workers a share of the money when organizations buy back their own shares. \u201cMassive corporations are profiting to the tune of billions of dollars and are still not providing livable wages for workers,\u201d Booker<\/a> says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a candidate, he has laid out a pro-labor platform called Opportunity and Justice for Workers<\/a>. It is a comprehensive look at the issues he believes need to be tackled for workers, including ensuring all workers have opportunities for better wages, expanding investment in industry-specific and organizational training, and making childcare available for workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He is also one of four Democratic candidates whose campaign staff have organized.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew Yglesias<\/a> at Vox wrote in early 2018 that Booker has reinvented himself as a \u201cpopulist crusader\u201d who is forcing the issue of \u201chow corporate concentration can harm workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pete Buttigieg<\/h2>\n

Pete Buttigieg<\/a>, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is a staunch labor advocate who has laid out a comprehensive platform that addresses many worker\u2019s issues. \u201cWhile Mayor Pete\u2019s plan is extremely detailed the main point is that he wants to create an economy that works for all working Americans,\u201d stresses Brian Young<\/a>, staff writer at UCOMM Blog.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his plan, Buttigieg touches on paid parental leave, minimum wage, sectoral bargaining and the unionization of gig workers. He also wants to fine organizations that interfere with union elections, which would help ease the path to unionization for many.<\/p>\n

He is a vocal advocate of the Fight for $15<\/a> and building stronger unions. \u201cWe need to raise the minimum wage to $15 and rebuild union membership for an economy where all workers can thrive,\u201d says Buttigieg<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The candidate has made a sincere effort to appeal to workers, often joining them during strikes or on picket lines to stand in solidarity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"White<\/p>\n

Julian Castro<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s simple\u2014We can\u2019t be 100 percent committed to supporting workers without practicing what we preach,\u201d asserts Julian Castro<\/a>, the former secretary for Housing and Urban Development.<\/p>\n

Castro voluntarily recognized the organization of his campaign staff. Castro has also put himself on the front lines of the labor movement, marching with fast food workers in Durham, North Carolina, as they demanded a $15 wage. He also met with striking medical workers at the University of California.<\/p>\n

While he does advocate for addressing issues important to workers, he hasn\u2019t yet released a detailed plan on how he would tackle those issues. According to Politico<\/a>, he wants to raise the minimum wage to $15, as well as expand paid family and medical leave plans to help working families. He has also proposed a credit, called Working Families First<\/a>, that includes a universal child credit of $3,000 for \u201cevery family of modest means.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kamala Harris\u00a0<\/h2>\n

California Senator Kamala Harris<\/a> is no stranger to workers\u2019 causes, and unions have long supported her political career. The National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) has endorsed her multiple times. \u201cShe\u2019s extremely responsive to workers\u2019 issues, union issues,\u201d says NUHW President Sal Rosselli<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUnions built the middle class of this country,\u201d Harris<\/a> herself says. \u201cWe are better than this. This is a moment that is requiring us to fight for the best of us of who we are, and who but labor knows how to fight, and fight effectively,\u201d she exclaims.<\/p>\n

As a senator, she has supported the Workplace Democracy Act, which would make it easier for workers to organize. She has also thrown her support behind the Fight for $15. But where she stands out is through her targeted support of public school teachers, domestic workers and farm workers.<\/p>\n

To that end, in 2019 Harris introduced the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in the Senate. \u201cThis will provide us with the respect, dignity, and recognition that we all deserve,\u201d says June Barrett<\/a>, a home health aide who has been campaigning on behalf of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.<\/p>\n

Amy Klobuchar<\/h2>\n

As part of her appeal to workers, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar<\/a> stresses that she comes from a union family \u2014 granddaughter of a union miner and daughter of a union teacher and a union newspaper man. \u201cI come from a union family and I will always fight for our workers,\u201d Klobuchar<\/a> says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In her plan of executive actions<\/a> that she would take in her first 100 days as president, Klobuchar says she would make it easier for workers to join unions and include actions that would address key worker and union issues. Some of those actions include:\u00a0<\/p>\n