Hillary Clinton has always stood up for labor. On this holiday, she tweeted energetically to clarify how damaging a Kavanaugh appointment would be to workers.
Happy Labor Day. There's no better time to talk about why workers’ rights would suffer if Brett Kavanaugh, whose hearings for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court start tomorrow, is confirmed.
The Roberts Court has dealt some big blows to workers and unions in the last few years. With Kavanaugh on the Court, a 5-4 hard-right majority would be even more aggressive in siding with corporations over people.
The Court's ruling in Janus v. AFSCME earlier this summer overturned a 40-year-old precedent to hold that public-sector workers with union contracts don't have to pay fees for collective bargaining expenses if they're not members.
That ruling won't just hurt seven million public-sector union workers with contracts. It'll hurt all workers, because union deals on wages and working conditions affect what businesses without unions do, too.
The Court has also recently granted corporations the right to deny workers reproductive health care and made it harder for workers to sue businesses by allowing companies to force employees to sign mandatory arbitration clauses with their contracts.
In other words, the Court has already been widening the disparity in power between corporations and workers. Kavanaugh's record from his time as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia shows he'd help further that trend for a generation.
After her Cincinnati rally with Tim Kaine
today, Hillary boarded Hill Force One and took questions from her
traveling press corps hile in flight to Hampton, Illinois for the 49th
Annual Salute to Labor there. Look for Hillary around the 20 minute mark.
Here is the message Hillary would like to share on Labor Day.
On
Labor Day, we celebrate American workers and all that the organized
labor movement has done for us -- from bringing us a 40-hour work week,
the weekend, and overtime pay to securing limits on child labor.
Hillary’s got plans to strengthen organized labor and help workers
around America enjoy the benefits of good-paying jobs -- including a
living wage, the ability to raise a family, the flexibility to balance
work and life, and a sense of dignity and pride in one’s work. You can
dive into the details below, but here’s the gist:
Hillary will increase access to work training, apprenticeships, and entrepreneurial opportunity, invest in new, good-paying jobs, and create incentives for those jobs to remain in America.
Hillary will fight for higher and fairer pay overall, ranging from raising the minimum wage to encouraging profit-sharing by employers.
Hillary will fight for policies that support workers’ financial and logistical needs at every stage of life, whether you’re raising a family or preparing to retire.
It’s
important to remember that while Hillary fights to make life better for
workers, Donald Trump and Mike Pence are doing the opposite: Trump
wants to eliminate the federal minimum wage, made Trump-branded products
overseas, stiffs the small business owners and contractors who work
with him, and has hired union-busting firms to stop his own workers from
organizing. Mike Pence pushed to undermine Social Security, and both
Trump and Pence support so-called “right to work” laws which make it
much harder for workers to bargain for better salaries.
As the
granddaughter of a factory worker and the daughter of a small business
owner, Hillary knows that our workers have the right to fair wages, safe
working conditions, and reasonable hours. Here’s the rundown of what
Hillary’s got planned once she’s president: Protecting American workers
Hillary
has specific plans for job creation and economic policies that will
increase the number of good-paying jobs and trained workers here in the
United States while protecting workers from exploitation and
outsourcing. In fact, she plans to make the largest investment in
good-paying jobs since World War II.
In her first 100 days, Hillary will invest over $275 billion to spur the creation of good-paying jobs in infrastructure, and invest further in clean energy, research and technology, manufacturing, and the small business sector.
She’ll help small businesses create good-paying jobs by cutting red tape, providing tax relief and increasing access to capital.
She’ll invest in high-quality training, apprenticeships, and skill-building for all workers, including free community college and improved access to vocational education.
She’ll pull back tax breaks
for companies that ship jobs overseas, and reject global trade deals
like the Trans-Pacific Partnership that do not meet a high bar of
creating good-paying jobs and raising pay.
Higher and fairer pay
Workers
should be paid fairly for the time they put in on the job, and Hillary
will fight for employees to take home every dollar they worked for.
Hillary supports a federal $12 minimum wage, and supports prevailing wage laws and the “Fight for $15” where economically feasible.
She’ll support collective bargaining rights for unions and make it easier for workers to choose to join a union and bargain for better wages and benefits.
She’ll reward companies that share profits
with their workers by awarding a two-year tax credit equal to 15% of
the profits they share (with a higher credit for small businesses).
She’ll fight for equal pay for women,
especially women of color (the most frequent victims of the gender pay
gap), including through passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act (which she
introduced three times as a senator).
Work-life balance: a fairer, more flexible workplace
Jobs
should provide not only wages, but humane working conditions,
reasonable hours, and a sense of dignity and pride. 21st-century
families face unique challenges -- more dual-income families, more
female heads of household as breadwinners, and a health care system that
still places undue burdens on family caregivers (a quarter of American
women return to work just 10 days after having a child). In response:
Hillary will continue the fight for paid family and medical leave, with a goal of guaranteeing 12 weeks of paid leave to care for any family member (not just a newborn).
She will work towards universally affordable childcare that caps fees at 10% of a family’s income.
She will defend and expand Social Security, especially for widows and those who took time out of the workforce to care for family members, and fight pension cuts and other attempts to undermine retirement benefits.
Whether
they report to a factory or a classroom, work at computers or behind
cash registers, or make careers of caregiving and social service, our
economy -- and our families -- depend on American workers. Their
dedication deserves all the appreciation and gratitude in the world --
and they deserve to be properly compensated for it. Hillary has detailed
plans to help labor and working families, and you wonks are the best at
helping people understand those fine details! Share her plans and start as many conversations as you can.
At the 49th Annual Salute to Labor Picnic in Hampton,
Illinois on Monday, Hillary Clinton reiterated her belief that we are
stronger together, and explained why America’s labor unions reflect
that. Labor unions are also crucial to Clinton’s plan to build an
economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top, she said,
given their fights for fair wages and safe working conditions that built
the world’s largest middle class. Unlike Donald Trump, who led a
union-busting campaign against his employees and said he thinks wages
are too high, Clinton will make sure unions always have a seat at the
table and a champion in the White House. Clinton said, “I am going to
say no to attacks on unions, I am going to say no to rolling back
collective bargaining, I am going to say no to unfair trade deals like
the TPP […] But I will say yes to the American dream. And here’s what I
believe. The American dream is big enough for all of us. If we build it,
we will expand it and create more opportunities. And as we run this
campaign on issues, our most important goal is getting the economy to
work for everybody. Clinton’s remarks, as transcribed, are below:
“Hello! Wow, thank you all. Thank you. Thank you so much. And it’s
wonderful to be back. I had such a good time last year, I said, ‘Put
that back on my calendar for Labor Day. I want to be on the banks of the
Mississippi with friends from Illinois and Iowa, talking about how
we’re going to make this economy work for everybody, not just those at
the top.’ And it gives me such a great sense of real privilege and honor
to be up on this stage with the people you see before you, starting
with my friend and former colleague, the great senator from Illinois,
Dick Durbin, who has been – in so many ways the conscience of the United
States Senate. You heard him say he comes from a union family, he knows
what hard work is. He stands up every day in that Senate – I hope you
get a chance to watch him on CSPAN some time, because he carries such
passion and conviction in his voice about everything that he’s fighting
for. So thanks to our friends from Illinois for sending Dick Durbin to
the Senate for all the years – and for however long he wants to be
there.
And please be sure he is joined by Tammy Duckworth as your next
senator. Dick reminded me that I endorsed Tammy here last year. I was
looking for the right occasion to do that, and I figured right here in
her state would be the perfect opportunity. I just can’t tell you how
much I admire this brave woman. And she’s going to bring so much to the
Senate, to our national debate about issues that are critical to
America’s future. So please do everything you can to make sure that
Tammy is in the Senate.
And let me also recognize and thank your congresswoman, Cheri Bustos.
Thank you. Cheri has already made a great impression in the Congress,
and she is working hard every day. She’s another keeper. She’s somebody
who will only do more and more as she is there longer and has the chance
to really make things happen for her constituents.
I also want to recognize my friend, Congressman Dave Loebsack from
across the river who was here earlier. I don’t think I need to remind
everybody from Iowa, but please turn out and vote not only for Dave, but
vote for Democrats. Vote for Patty Judge for Senate. Vote for other
Democrats for Congress.
And it’s a thrill to be here with three great union leaders, people
who I admire and really appreciate the chance to work with and look
forward to working with as president. The UAW president, international,
Dennis Williams; IBEW international president, Lonnie Stevenson; and of
course, president of the NEA, for the educators, Lily Eskelsen. Now,
each of these leaders are pretty special people, and I think you know,
Doug was pretty happy that they’re here. He told me, ‘We’ve got three
international presidents here.’ And I said, ‘Knowing these three,
they’re happy to be here.’ This is not some kind of Labor Day
obligation; they are with their members, they’re working on behalf not
only of those in the union, but we know – it was just proven again last
week – that unions not only raise incomes and provide benefits for union
members, but because of unions, everybody is better off. And that’s a
message I’m going to talk about every single day in this campaign.
Now, this is such a beautiful day, and you all came out here to
celebrate Labor Day with all of us. And I am thrilled that I have a
chance to just say a few words.
I really believe we are stronger together. That was the theme of our
convention. And coming out tomorrow, Tim Kaine and I have a book called
‘Stronger Together,’ and – I’ll tell you why we did this book. I think
if you run for president, you ought to tell people what you want to do.
Right? And what I’ve tried to do in this book – and it’s so great having
Senator Kaine by my side now – is to lay out a blueprint for America’s
future. How are we going to get more good jobs, infrastructure jobs,
advanced manufacturing jobs, clean renewable energy jobs? How are we
going to make sure that the economy not only is growing and producing
more jobs with rising incomes, but is being fair so that people are
treated fairly? That’s why we support raising the national minimum wage
so that you’re not living in poverty when you work full-time.
My opponent thinks wages are too high. I don’t know who he talks to –
but he actually says that and he doesn’t believe in raising the
national minimum wage. I also believe in doing more to support small
businesses. My dad was a small businessman; I believe that we need to do
everything we can to help small businesses succeed.
Tim Kaine and I were together in Cleveland earlier; we talked about
that. Tim’s dad ran a union shop, ironworkers, and he’s proud of that,
that he had a small business father who ran a union shop and employed
union workers, providing good products. I also believe that we have got
to finally guarantee equal pay for women’s work. And that’s because I
believe in fairness. I don’t want to see anybody treated unfairly and
discriminated against. I don’t care who you are. If you’re willing to
work and do your part, you should be able to get ahead and stay ahead.
That is the basic bargain of America.
So if you look at this book, which I hope you will, it stands in
stark contrast to Donald Trump. He says, ‘I alone can fix it.’ Now, the
folks I have met during this campaign, and for many years before, know
that we have challenges, know we’ve got to come together, and believe we
have to work together to fix what our problems are. That’s my view. I
want us to bring people together just the way unions do. Just the way
people and communities do. And here in the Quad cities, and across the
country, we can see proof every day that we have to come together to
meet our challenges.
So I’m going to continue to emphasize that we want to be the uniters
in this campaign. We believe that America is already great and that we
can become greater if we do our part. When somebody says, ‘I alone can
fix it,’ think of the people he’s leaving out. Everybody else. Leaving
out our troops on the front lines, leaving out firefighters and police
officers who run toward danger, leaving out teachers and educators who
do their best to change children’s lives, leaving out everybody else.
That is his campaign in a nutshell. And what we’ve got to do in the next
63 days is to present the vision of America we believe in.
So we’re going to continue to say, we’re stronger together, we’re
going to work together, we’re going to run a campaign of issues, not
insults. And we are going to be absolutely strong in our support for
unions. Because we know nobody gets through life alone. Unions helped
build the largest middle-class in the history of the world, in our
country. They fought for fair wages, safe working conditions, they’ve
helped so many people get on that rung to the middle class, and their
kids, like Dick Durbin, go even higher. So I am going to say no to
attacks on unions, I am going to say no to rolling back collective
bargaining, I am going to say no to unfair trade deals like the TPP, I’m
going to say no to pension cuts that deny you the secure retirement
that you have worked for, and I’m going to say no to Right to Work. It’s
not right for workers, and it’s not right for America.
But I will say yes to the American dream. And here’s what I believe.
The American dream is big enough for all of us. If we build it, we will
expand it and create more opportunities. And as we run this campaign on
issues, our most important goal is getting the economy to work for
everybody. There’s nothing more important. And how do you do that? By
creating more jobs. And what are some of the areas that I think we can
really emphasize? Infrastructure: our roads, our bridges, our tunnels,
our ports, our airports. Also, what we can’t see – our water systems –
our sewer systems. We also need a new electric grid, a modern electric
grid, to be able to take and distribute clean renewable energy. I have a
goal for us to install a half a billion more solar panels by the end of
my first term. It takes a lot of – a lot of jobs, a lot of people
working to do that. And then enough clean energy to power every home by
the end of my second term.
I also want to finish the work of broadband interconnectivity. We
have places in our country that still have dialup. We have places where
kids can’t do the homework assignments their teachers give them because
they don’t have access to the internet. That is so unfair. Think of all
the jobs we’ll create when we finish that off.
And then let’s look at advanced manufacturing. I believe we can
compete with anybody if we put our minds to it, and I’m going to have a
manufacturing renaissance policy – that will put people to work. I am so
proud that Dennis and Lonnie are here because they have been doing so
much to really create the new industries in autos and what the IBW does
in so many important areas of our economy. I want to be your partner.
And I think it’s especially important to recognize that when the
chips were down and the auto industry was on its back, President Obama
did the right thing. He saved the American auto industry. I supported
him then, and I support him just as strongly now. The American auto
industry just had the best year it has had in a long time, and that was
because of the teamwork and the partnership that we had between the
companies, between the union, and because the President of the United
States knew we had to save the auto industry. Donald Trump basically
said he didn’t care, didn’t matter to him; just shows you how he doesn’t
understand or care about the real jobs that put bread on the table and
give people a sense of purpose and dignity.
Well, you won’t have to look far to find me in the Oval Office if I’m
fortunate enough to be your president to do everything I can every
single day to create more jobs, to save jobs, to bring jobs back from
overseas. And if you contrast that with Trump, his track record – his
track record is just the opposite. He actually hired a union-busting
firm for one of his hotels in Las Vegas. He built a career out of not
paying workers for the work they did. We’re talking painters, plumbers,
electricians, people who thought it was a big deal working for Donald
Trump, one of his resorts, his casinos. He stiffed them. He stiffed
small businesses.
Like I said, my Dad was a small businessman. He printed drapery
fabrics. He’d get an order, he’d buy the material, he’d get the
silkscreens made. I would go sometimes to help him in his print plant.
He’d have these long tables. The fabric would be laid out. You would
take the silkscreen, you’d put it down, you’d pour the paint in, you’d
take the squeegee, you’d push it across, you’d lift the screen up, you’d
go all the way down, get on the next table, all the way back. Took a
lot of time. Took a lot of hard work.
When he finished, he’d load up the fabrics in his car and he’d go
deliver them. I am so happy he never got a contract from Donald Trump. I
don’t know what my family would have done if my Dad did business with
people like Trump who has told hundreds and hundreds of small businesses
– he has been sued 4,000 times for not paying the bills that he owes –
if my Dad had been told, ‘Sorry. Just kidding. We’re not paying you.’
This is a man who wants to be president of the United States? This is
someone who doesn’t even honor contracts?
That’s what is so dangerous about this election. When Donald Trump
says what he says about the economy, you know, that he knows how to
create jobs, he had six bankruptcies. In one bankruptcy alone, 1,000
people lost their jobs. The numbers add up.
He talks about wanting to protect jobs in America, but everything he
makes he has made overseas. He could have made suits and ties and
furniture in the United States, but, no, he made it overseas. He even
hires workers from overseas, and he tells people, well, he couldn’t find
Americans who wanted to work in the heat. You can’t make this stuff up,
can you? It is truly unbelievable.
But what’s even worse is what he says about foreign policy. As bad as
he is about our economy, he has insulted our allies, he has made common
cause with dictators, he has basically endorsed Vladimir Putin and his
policies. When he says, ‘I know more about ISIS than the generals,’ when
he claims our armed forces are a disaster, or he insults a Gold Star
family, that’s not just offensive; that’s dangerous.
And just today our intelligence professionals said there is credible
evidence for them to pursue an investigation into Russia’s efforts to
interfere with our election, hacking the Democratic National Committee.
And when Putin was asked about it, didn’t deny it; in fact, he said it
was probably a good thing it happened. And this is the person that
Donald Trump praises.
We saw even more evidence last week that he is temperamentally unfit
and totally unqualified to be president. In just a few hours, he managed
to turn his trip to Mexico into an embarrassing international incident.
I mean, just look at what happened. He got into a Twitter war with the
president of Mexico. And why? Because the president of Mexico said, ‘I
told him in the meeting we weren’t paying for that wall.’
So not only did Trump mess up his first international engagement, he
choked. He couldn’t even bring himself to tell the president of Mexico
one of his very few policy demands. I mean, he went back to Arizona and
gave another hate-filled speech about rounding up and deporting 16
million people. Even some of his own advisors are having a hard time
explaining that away. So he’s going to try to distract and divide. He’s
going to hope that we don’t pay attention to what he has been saying for
14, 15 months, that we just tune in now these last two months, that he
is somehow softening his positions, that there is really another Donald
Trump out there?
Well, you’ve got to ask yourself, if you can’t even go to a friendly
foreign country without getting into a fight – can this person even
claim to have the temperament to be in the Oval Office and deal with
real urgent crises? As I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again, a man
who can be provoked by a Tweet should not be anywhere near nuclear
weapons.
But we have a lot of work to do. I think every election is close and
tight and tough. That’s why we have to work as hard as we can between
now and when the last votes are counted, and that’s why I need your
help. I want to get the economy working for everybody, not just those at
the top. I want to be sure that we lead the world with strength and
steadiness and that we protect America here at home and around the
world. And I want to unify our country. I believe with all my heart –
that every American must vote. Must vote.
I see a woman holding a sign, ‘You must vote. Please, it will make a
difference.’ And then she says, ‘I am a Gold Star daughter.’ God bless
you. God bless you.
I’ve spent my life fighting for kids and families. I don’t give up. I
don’t quit. When we didn’t get healthcare reform, I went to work with
Republicans and Democrats. We passed the Children’s Health Insurance
Program that insures 8 million kids every year. As Dick said, after we
were attacked on 9/11, I worked with Democrats and Republicans to make
sure we could rebuild New York and the Pentagon, and make sure we were
as safe as we possibly could be.
This election will determine so much about our future. And one thing I
know for sure is we have to start listening to and respecting each
other again. We may have differences; that’s the American way. But we
are stronger together. We can do anything if we put our minds to it. I
saw the picture of Mother Teresa that was being held up here, and I was
fortunate enough to know Mother Teresa. I was fortunate enough to
actually work with her. We didn’t agree on everything, but we found
common ground.
She asked me, when I was First Lady, to get a home for babies started
in Washington so mothers who couldn’t care for their babies could take
their babies to a safe place and those babies could be adopted. And when
Mother Teresa asked you to do something, the only answer was, ‘Yes,
ma’am.’ And I started working. And she would call me. She’d call me from
India. She’d call me from Vietnam. She called me from everywhere. She’d
say, ‘Where’s my home?’ And I’d say, ‘Well, Mother, working with the
Washington, D.C. zoning department requires divine intervention.’ And so
she did, and we got it done.
Here’s what I hope you will do. I hope you will get involved in this campaign for these last two months. I hope you will go to hillaryclinton.com and
see how you can work, in Illinois, in Iowa. I hope you will text
‘join,’ j-o-i-n, and go to 47246, to see what you can do. We need
everybody involved. There has never been a more important, consequential
election in our lifetimes. And we need to elect progressive leaders
like Tammy and Sherry and Dave Loebsack and others who are on the ballot
as well.
I am confident and optimistic about America’s future. When I listen
to Donald Trump, when I watched his convention, I honestly did not know
what country he was talking about. It was so dark, so dire, so
depressing. That’s not the America I know. It’s not the America that I
see. I don’t deny that we have problems. Of course we do. We’re human
beings. But my goodness, would you live anywhere else? Would you give up
our freedom, our values, our opportunity, for anywhere else? I traveled
to 112 countries as your Secretary of State, and every I went, I was so
proud to land that plane which said the United States of America on it
and to come down those stairs and begin to meet on behalf of our values,
our interests, and our security. And there is not a place, despite what
they say, that doesn’t envy who we are and what we have. We cannot put
any of that at risk, my friends.
So for these last two months, join this campaign. Help us make
history. Make sure that we are continuing to be not just great but even
greater, and that we’re creating opportunities for the next generation,
like my grandchildren. That’s what we can do together if we remember we
are stronger together. God bless you!”
The Hawkeye Labor Council AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic in Cedar Rapids, Iowa was one stopping off point for Hillary this Labor Day. The Quad City Federation of Labor's Salute to Labor Chicken Fry in Hampton was another.
Published on Sep 7, 2015
Hillary Clinton campaigns in Iowa and speaks on the importance of labor unions on Labor Day. Clinton is at the Quad City Federation of Labor's Salute to Labor Chicken Fry in Hampton, IA.
Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton poses for a photo with a
supporter during the Annual Hawkeye Labor Council AFL-CIO Labor Day
picnic,
Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton greets a supporter during
the Annual Hawkeye Labor Council AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic, Monday,
Sept. 7, 2015, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is seen on a phone as she
greets supporters during the Annual Hawkeye Labor Council AFL-CIO Labor
Day picnic, Monday, Sept. 7, 2015, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP
Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
U.S.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton waves to voters
following a campaign stop at the Hawkeye Labor Council AFL-CIO Labor Day
picnic in Cedar Rapids, Iowa September 7, 2015. REUTERS/Brian C. Frank
Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton poses for a photo with
Vera Underwood, left, and Sharla Sutton, both of Marion, Iowa, during
the Annual Hawkeye Labor Council AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic, Monday, Sept.
7, 2015, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
As
a Senator from New York, Hillary has supported the rights of working
people and unions. As President, Hillary Clinton will continue to fight
for raising wages, earned sick time, and fairer scheduling for workers.
