Reports
A Progress Report for Working Americans
09/03/2008
A NEW DIRECTION FOR WORKING AMERICANS | ||||
Democrats assumed control of the 110th Congress with a clear promise to promote secure and good-paying American jobs, to honor the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively, and to restore accountability to workplace safety and fairness laws. The New Direction Congress has passed strong initiatives to restore the American dream—helping ensure that, after 12 years of neglect, America’s working men and women have the tools they need to provide a better life for themselves and their families. | ||||
Passed By House | Signed Into Law | |||
MAKING ENDS MEET | ||||
Recovery rebates for 130 million American families and business incentives to create 500,000 jobs this year to jumpstart our economy | ||||
Comprehensive reforms to help Americans facing home foreclosure keep their homes | | |||
A military pay raise of 3.5%—higher than the President proposed | ||||
PROTECTING AMERICAN WORKERS | ||||
The first federal minimum wage increase in 10 years | ||||
Extended unemployment insurance for the growing number of Americans looking for work | ||||
Davis-Bacon fair wage protections for workers rebuilding the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina | ||||
Free choice for workers to bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions | ||||
Collective bargaining rights for public safety officers in all 50 states | ||||
The reversal of an unjust Supreme Court decision so that victims of pay discrimination are treated fairly (the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act) | ||||
Protections for children from unsafe working conditions | ||||
A ban on genetic discrimination by health insurers and employers | ||||
The right of corporate shareholders to vote on excessive executive pay, in the wake of the most disproportionate pay levels in history | ||||
The right to use the Family and Medical Leave Act to deal with issues arising as a result of a spouse’s deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan | ||||
Davis-Bacon fair wage protections for workers employed in the energy sector | ||||
EDUCATING OUR WORKFORCE | ||||
The largest college aid expansion in six decades—cutting student loan rates in half and increasing Pell Grants | ||||
A new GI Bill for a free college education for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan | ||||
The restoration of $1.4 billion that President Bush cut from vital employment and training programs, including the dislocated worker program and Job Corps | ||||
EXPANDING OUR ECONOMY | ||||
An innovation agenda to promote math and science education, and basic research and development, to restore the American worker’s ability to compete in a global economy | ||||
OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS | ||||
Ending a dozen years of Congressional oversight inaction, demanding accountability on the Bush Administration’s failure to protect workers’ rights to organize and to work in safe conditions. Demanding that all future trade agreements contain tough provisions to ensure protection of basic workers’ rights and environmental safeguards. Ensuring that the Government Accountability Office negotiate an election settlement so that its employees can bargain collectively in good faith. =Complete=Incomplete |