McKinney - House Legislation

LABOR

Working people are the lifeblood of our economy and the foundation of our democracy. But American workers are facing a crisis unlike any since the Great Depression. The current Administration has a unilateral approach to labor issues: support the rich corporations at all costs. Worker safety and environmental safety are not on the back burner, they are not even on the stove!

For decades, corporate employers in America have been downsizing their workforces and outsourcing jobs overseas wherever they can find the cheapest labor, the weakest safety regulations and the environmental laws. This has meant a declining standard of living for American workers, increasing job insecurity and a gradual erosion of hard-won benefits.

Job losses are on their way to Georgia. In January, Ford Motor Company announced that it will be discontinuing vehicle production at the Atlanta Assembly Plant in Hapeville in the third quarter of 2006. Some 2,500 workers will lose their jobs. According to the Georgia Department of Labor, General Motors will be laying off some 3,000 workers in their DeKalb County factories by September 2008. Workers at other auto plants in Georgia are also facing possible job loss. A wave of auto worker lay-offs in Georgia would send shock waves through our local economy.

I will be supportive of union efforts to reverse these decisions and keep jobs in our district. I will also seek to work with unions and employers to help laid-off workers in our district find new, quality jobs close to home.

Unions play an essential role in helping workers secure living wages and benefits and safe work environments, I have proudly advocated on behalf of firefighters, police officers, factory workers, teachers and other working people to help secure good job opportunities, health care opportunities, fair contracts and long-term work assurances.

I am proud to have received 100% approval ratings from many unions from 2000 to 2006, including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Transportation Communications Union, the American Federation of Government Employees, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the United Food and Commercial Workers, The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, thee AFL-CIO, the Teamsters, the American Federation of Government Employees, the Communication Workers of America, the Transportation Communications Union and the Communications Workers of America. Also, in 2005 I received a 93% rating from the United Auto Workers. And the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, who had given me consistent ratings of 100% in the past, gave me a 75% rating in 2005. This tells me I have some work to do.

In fact, I recently learned from the Boilermakers that 80% of contracts to repair our Armed Forcesą seafaring vessels are given to foreign companies. This is completely unacceptable, when we have United States workers ready and willing to do the job, and I intend to take action to redress this policy that is unfair and unfriendly to American workers.

This is but one example that is typical of the wrong-headed priorities of a pro-corporate Administration. Fair trade agreements like NAFTA, CAFTA and AFTA have eroded and would continue to erode worker security in America by allowing corporations to replace American workers with low-wage workers in poor countries. I am an opponent of free trade agreements that are not fair; that is, that do not set high standards for living wages, worker safety and environmental protection. I voted against Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority, and will continue to urge Congress to maintain its authority over international treaties.

Finally, in 2001, I introduced the Transparency and Responsibility for United States Trade Health Act (or TRUTH ACT, H.R. 460) to require U.S. businesses that operate abroad to file reports on their activities abroad, including their labor, environmental, human rights, workplace safety and security standards. I also introduced a companion piece of legislation, H.R. 2782, the Corporate Code of Conduct Act (H.R. 2782), which would impose standards for labor, workplace safety and environmental similar to those required in the United States, in order for those firms to be eligible for federal contracts or tax incentives. I plan to re-introduce these bills in future because they are still needed.