Earlier today, the inestimable Meteor Blades gave a shout-out to the Economic Policy Institute’s new “First Day Fairness” project.
It’s a project we should all get behind, in my opinion. By that, I mean: all Daily Kos readers, all elected Democrats, and all soon-to-be elected Democrats. (Can’t wait for November 6!)
If you haven’t had time to read or glance through the detailed proposal, here’s a summary of the main points. Celine McNicholas, Samantha Sanders, and Heidi Shierholz, the authors of the report, argue that if we want to effectively counter our decades-long national slide into worsening inequality and “the erosion of workers’ bargaining power,” we will have to address each of the following problems:
- We must strengthen collective bargaining and grow workers’ ability to join together to increase their power
- Workers should be able to form a union free from employer intimidation and retaliation
- Workers who form a union should be able to reach a first contract in a timely manner
- Workers should be able to effectively finance worker organizations
- Workers should have the right to act in solidarity with other working people
- We must ensure basic job quality
- Workers should earn at least a fair minimum wage
- Workers should be fairly compensated for long hours
- Workers should be able to expect predictable schedules or be fairly compensated for unpredictable hours
- Workers should have access to paid sick time
- Workers should be provided transparent information about the terms of their employment
- Workers should be able to hold all firms that have control over the terms and conditions of their employment accountable
- Workers should be protected against arbitrary or unfair termination or workplace discipline
- We must protect workers from being forced to sign away their rights
- Workers should be able to access the courts to enforce their rights
- Workers should not have their job opportunities restricted by noncompete agreements
- We must boost enforcement of all labor and employment standards
- Workers should have their rights adequately protected and be able to work free from discrimination and harassment
- Workers should not be forced to subsidize employers who violate workers’ rights
If you are keeping count, that’s a total of 15 specific “must-do” items, each with a legislative agenda attached.
There’s a lot of work to do if we want to turn this ship of state around, people! The first step will be winning back statehouses, Governorships, and Congress (the House at a minimum, and with a lot of luck and hard work, the Senate too) this November. The next step will be to pressure our representatives to pass meaningful legislation. (We’ll have to wait for a better president to get it signed, but that’s for 2020.)
Comprehensive legislative agendas, like this detailed proposal from EPI and Senator Warren’s anti-corruption plan, are exactly what we need to be building.
The GOP flamed out within months of capturing all levels of the federal government in 2017: they talked a big game, but when they were in a position to get anything done “Repeal and Replace” and “Balance the Budget” turned out to be hollow, gimmicky slogans. Democrats are now vocal about economic inequality and combating corruption. We need to have an worked-out and agreed-upon legislative agenda to put our slogans into practice the minute we get the reins back — in January 2021, I hope!