Workers' Rights

"Whenever there is an organizing campaign, a picket line to walk, jobs to save, working conditions to improve, laws to champion, I'm there. This is my purpose: To stand up and to speak out on behalf of those who have built this country and who want to rebuild this country. This is my passion: To raise up the rights of working people. Workers' rights are the key to protecting our democracy." – Dennis

Workers' rights embody spiritual principles that sustain families, nourish the soul, and create peace.

Dennis Kucinich stands for the rights of workers:

• The Right to a job.
• The Right to Organize.
• The Right to Join a Union
• The Right to Decent Wages and Benefits
• The Right to a Safe Workplace
• The Right to Strike
• The Right to Fair Compensation for Injuries on the Job.
• The Right to  Sue if injured by Negligent Employers.
• The Right to a Secure Pension and Retirement Benefits.
• The Right to Participate in the Political Process.

Workers' rights are human rights. Workers' rights embody spiritual principles that sustain families, nourish the soul, and create peace.  It is the restoration of the rights of workers that will put us at the dawn  of a new political age. The rights of workers are core principles of an American Restoration. These aren't mere political principles. These are timeless moral principles, about fairness, about equality, about justice.

Labor has stood almost alone while corporations have cut wages and benefits, slashed working hours, tried to undermine wage and hour provisions, reneged on contracts, and jettisoned retirements through bankruptcy strategies. The current clamor for corporate accountability calls for honesty in stating the numbers, and faithful custody of shareholders money.

There needs to be equal concern for those who created the wealth through their labor, because the attacks on unions are a means of redistributing the wealth upwards. As union membership has declined, the disparity of wealth has increased. Since 1973, union membership has dropped and the share of aggregate income of the poor, the middle class, and the upper middle class has declined.

The basic rights of workers are a core component of every democratic society. There can be no true corporate accountability unless corporations are accountable to workers. There can be no accountability to workers unless workers' rights are protected.

When the Democratic Party rises, it must be *with* the ranks, not *from* the ranks. "The future of labor is the future of America," said John L. Lewis.

Trade

“We should be concerned about protecting American jobs, protecting America’s industries, America’s workers."  - Dennis

We live in times when government officials enlist the cause of patriotism for unnecessary wars.  Patriotism is not called forth when we need to protect the livelihood of American families by keeping jobs in the United States.   Trade incentives for China cost America jobs.  NAFTA cost America jobs.  GATT cost America jobs.  Nearly every free trade agreement works to the detriment of American industry and American workers.

America has about a $600 billion trade deficit.  We have seen industries across the state of Ohio close because free trade equals cheap wages in countries which have little or no protection for workers or the environment.

It is time new trade policies, with enforceable workers’ rights, human rights and environmental quality principles are included in all trade agreements. The basis for international trade should be uplifting the quality of life of all workers, not destroying the opportunity of workers in the US while lowering the standard of living for people in other countries.  There is an international race to drive down wages for workers, to maximize shareholder profits in already profitable businesses.  Is this patriotic?

How can America remain a prosperous and democratic nation if our trade policies continue to lay waste to communities across our nation? Modern trade agreements transfer sovereign power to the World Trade Organization. They make America less free. America needs a strong economy where goods are both created and sold here:  Buy America or bye bye America.