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August 5, 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
... On core union issues, a growing partisan divide
From Page 1
up construction and maintenance
costs, for the benefit of unions.”
The party platforms aren’t
binding on candidates, and indi-
vidual candidates can and do
adopt their own positions. But
the platforms serve as a state-
ment of consensus on what the
parties should stand for.
Presidential candidate Bernie
Sanders, a U.S. Senator from
Vermont, contributed consider-
ably to this year’s Democratic
platform. In some places, the
platform document sounds like
his speeches: “Our goal must be
to create a financial system and
an economy that works for all
Americans, not just a handful of
billionaires,” reads a section on
Wall Street reform.
Meanwhile, the Republican
platform adds signature ele-
ments from the campaign of
Donald Trump, including the
first-ever call by the Republican
Party for the construction of a
wall covering “the entirety of the
southern border and … suffi-
cient to stop both vehicular and
pedestrian traffic.”[Since the
GOP wants to repeal Davis-Ba-
con, the wall would presumably
be built nonunion.]
But deciphering the docu-
ments isn’t always obvious. To
an extent, they’re written in
code, recognizable only to tar-
geted constituencies.
So for example, four years
ago, the Republican platform
called for a flat-rate income tax,
in effect ending 100 years of the
progressive income tax in which
the rich pay higher rates. This
2016 Democratic Party Platform
Minimum Wage
Raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour over time, and index it to
inflation. End the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers and people with
disabilities.
Eliminate the federal minimum wage. (“Minimum wage is an issue that should
be handled at the state and local level.” ) Exempt US Territories (Guam, Northern
Marianas, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico) from federal
minimum wage law.
Workers’ Rights
Pass a law that requires employers to recognize a union whenever a majority of
workers sign valid authorization cards, and require binding arbitration in cases
where the union and employer can’t agree on a first contract. Limit the use of
forced arbitration clauses in employment contracts.
Pass a national “Right to Work” law barring any requirement that workers pay
dues to the union that represents them. Exempt tribal workplaces from the
requirement to recognize unions. Rescind the right of Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) employees to unionize. Repeal the Davis-Bacon law that
requires payment of prevailing wage on federal construction projects.
Tax Fairness
Enact a financial transactions tax on Wall Street to curb excessive speculation
and high-frequency trading. Establish a multimillionaire surtax. Eliminate tax
breaks for big oil and gas companies and companies that ship jobs overseas.
End deferrals so U.S. corporations pay taxes immediately on foreign profits.
Close the “carried interest” loophole that benefits hedge fund managers.
Reduce the corporate tax rate. Pass a Constitutional amendment requiring a
Congressional super-majority for any tax increase.
Health Care
Create a public insurance option to compete with private insurance companies.
Repeal the “Cadillac” tax on high-cost health insurance. Allow those over 55 to
opt in to Medicare. Allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices with drug
manufacturers. Allow individuals, pharmacists, and wholesalers to import
prescription drugs from licensed pharmacies in Canada and other countries with
appropriate safety protections. Remove barriers to states that want to
experiment with universal health care.
Repeal Obamacare. Replace traditional Medicare with a system of vouchers for
private insurance coverage — and raise the age of eligibility.
Campaign
Finance
Reform
Support a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens
United decision. Eliminate Super PACs. Create a public campaign financing
system that matches small donors. Require more disclosure and transparency
for political contributions —by outside groups, federal contractors, and public
corporations to their shareholders.
Repeal remaining campaign contribution limits. Repeal McCain-Feingold law
that limits “soft-money” contributions to political parties. End the Fairness
Doctrine (a no-longer-current FCC rule that required broadcasters to give equal
time to opposing political candidates). Bar union dues-funded political
contributions.
year, the party put it in code:
“We oppose tax policies that de-
liberately divide Americans or
promote class warfare.” Does
that mean a flat tax? Only the au-
thors know for sure — like Ore-
gon activist Russ Walker, who
co-chaired the Republican Plat-
form Committee’s subcommit-
tee on Government Reform. At
least the GOP platform is more
explicit in its pledge to repeal the
Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms
In Clackamas County
WE SUPPORT
Jim Bernard for
County Chair
2016 Republican Party Platform
Ken Humberston for
County Commissioner
Position 4
NW Oregon Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Paid for and authorized by NW Oregon Labor Council
and abolish the Consumer Fi-
nancial Protection Bureau.
The Democratic platform,
meanwhile, took union priorities
to heart. “Democrats will … fight
to enact legislation to make sure
that the earned pension benefits
of Americans will not be cut, and
will pay for it by closing tax loop-
holes that benefit millionaires and
billionaires.” That’s a coded ref-
erence to a bill sponsored by
Sanders that would overturn a
2014 law that lets distressed
union-sponsored multi-employer
pension plans cut retiree benefits
to prevent insolvency.
Democrats are also commit-
ted to protecting the postal serv-
ice: rejecting any privatization,
eliminating a ruinous mandate to
“pre-fund” retiree health costs,
and restoring service to former
levels, including overnight deliv-
ery of first-class mail and peri-
odicals within the same metro-
politan area. The party even en-
dorses proposals to let the Postal
Service offer basic financial
services such as paycheck cash-
ing. Those are top priorities for
postal unions.
READ THE PLATFORMS YOURSELF
Want more? See the 2016 Democratic
platform at http://bit.ly/29YL9Vu and
the 2016 Republican platform at
http://bit.ly/2abZWvv