Throughout our nation’s history, the labor movement has been committed to the values that make America strong. Labor’s contributions to this country are seen on a daily basis. Be it in construction and repair, in maintenance and manufacturing or in professional emergency medical services and shipbuilding -- the list of how labor impacts the United States is endless. I am proud to champion the causes of the labor movement as we share a goal of improving the lives of America’s working families. Supporting the labor movement is supporting causes ranging from collective bargaining and job security and work-place safety to reliable pensions and a proper balance between work and family responsibilities.

The Employee Free Choice Act

I am an original co-sponsor and strong supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a measure that would create a fair and level playing field between workers and employers and promote the economic growth of the American middle class. EFCA would create an atmosphere where workers would be able to choose a union free from employer coercion by strengthening penalties for employer coercion when employees are attempting to organize; encouraging mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes and allowing employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation. MORE»

Minimum Wage

This year, Democrats delivered on our commitment to give working families the pay raise they need and deserve. The Senate and the House each passed separate bills to increase the minimum wage to $7.25 over two years. This is a real victory for millions of working families who have waited ten long years for Congress to act. MORE»

Overtime

I am also a strong supporter of overtime protections for workers. On average, overtime payments account for 25 percent of the paychecks of people who earn overtime and I was disappointed when the Bush Administration tried to undermine these critical protections. MORE»

Work-Family Balance

Throughout my career as a lawyer, mother, First Lady and Senator, I have sought solutions to the difficult challenges that working parents face. The Family and Medical Leave Act was a critical first step in recognizing the challenges that Americans face in achieving a family-work balance. For nearly a decade and a half, it has provided the most basic protections for workers who can afford to take unpaid leave. Yet, 40 million workers cannot use the FMLA because they can't go without a paycheck. MORE»

First Responders and September 11

Soon after 9/11, I sounded the alarm that first responders and other workers and residents exposed to the toxic air at and around Ground Zero would suffer health effects from their exposure and would need help in the days, months and years to come. I have led the successful efforts to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to establish and expand the World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program run by Mt. Sinai, and provide worker compensation benefits for sick workers. MORE»

Davis-Bacon

On September 8, 2005, President Bush issued a proclamation suspending application of the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage to federal construction contracts issued in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and parts of Florida in response to the unprecedented damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. The Davis-Bacon protections ensure that workers get fair pay for a hard day's work.   Prevailing wages ensure that workers can afford the rising price of gas as well as the increasing costs of healthcare, food, tuition, and other essentials. The awful aftermath of this disaster has revealed that the people in the Gulf need more than an explanation from the Administration -- they need our support. Suspending one of America’s core worker protection laws undermines this responsibility. MORE»

Contracting Out

Any effort to contract out government jobs without regard to the efficiency or effectiveness of the  private firms that would be hired is irresponsible and a bad use of taxpayer dollars. I do not believe we should be privatizing government work without giving public sector employees a fair chance to defend their jobs, nor should we show a preference to contract employees over our dedicated public workforce. MORE»

Work-Place Safety

It has been nearly four decades since the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) was enacted and, while we’ve made great strides in strengthened the safety of working environment for this nation’s workers, there is still a great deal of improvement to be made. Too many workers are injured on the job and too few workers are protected by OSHA. The most recent data shows that more than 8.4 million federal, state and local public employees, in addition to millions of transportation-industry employees, are not covered. That’s why I am an original cosponsor of the Protecting America's Workers Act, which would expand OSHA protection, clarify the safety protections that employers must provide, expand civil and criminal penalties for OSHA violators, increase transparency in the OSHA citation process, and strengthen protections for OSHA whistleblowers. MORE»

Workforce Investment Act

As a member of the HELP Committee, I was proud to help shape the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) during its reauthorization in 2005. I successfully fought to include key provisions from my upstate economic plan to help coalitions of employers to train their workers in a way that is cost effective and efficient for all of them. I also pushed to include provisions to create more opportunities for entrepreneurs. In New York we have a tremendous amount of skilled individuals who could start businesses and create jobs if given the technical assistance and capital. Many of our colleges and universities in New York are able to support students with innovative ideas by helping them develop business models and turn those models into reality. By allowing WIA funds to be spent on microenterprise and business incubators, we can invest in our entrepreneurs and help keep jobs at home. MORE»

Agricultural Labor

I am a strong supporter of establishing an effective, legal workforce for the agricultural sector in New York State. I recognize that affordable and reliable labor is an important factor in maintaining a viable farm operation. For these reasons, I am proud to co-sponsor the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2007 in the 110th Congress, as I have done in previous Congresses. AgJobs has broad bipartisan support and is the result of years of negotiations among growers and workers. MORE»