The ultra-rich Democratic Presidential candidate has announced his labor plan. Is it genuine or an attempt to grab votes?
Here are the essentials of his plan verbatim from his campaign website:
Raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and expand overtime protections.
Mike will increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and index it to inflation. He will restore the Obama administration’s overtime rule, which expanded the number of workers eligible for overtime, and he will extend it further by updating the wage threshold.
Ensure all employees have 12 weeks of paid family leave and 7 days of paid sick leave.
Mike will require employers to provide employees 12 weeks of paid family leave. And he will ensure all employees receive 7 days of paid sick leave.
Strengthen union protections.
Mike will prohibit “right to work” laws for private-sector unions. He will guarantee public-sector employees have the right to unionize and bargain collectively. Mike will protect union elections, establish a scheduled process for initial contracts, enable franchise workers to bargain directly with corporate headquarters and promote sectoral bargaining in industries where workers are highly organized but face barriers to unionization.
Empower vulnerable communities of workers to organize.
Mike will ensure farmworkers and domestic workers are covered by minimum wage, overtime pay and other essential labor standards, and will protect them from workplace harassment. He also will expand protections to include undocumented workers, ensuring they can join unions, report labor violations and receive remedies without fear of immigration consequences.
Foster an innovative 21st-century workforce.
Mike will ensure “gig economy” workers receive full employee benefits, create portable benefits that stay with workers when they switch jobs and help displaced workers to build the next phase of their careers.
Protect workers’ pensions and retirement savings.
Mike will make sure Americans’ multiemployer pension plans remain solvent and that workers do not lose their retirement security. He also will ensure all workers who pay into Social Security, including public-sector employees, receive their full benefits.
Take the lead federally.
Mike will model good labor practices with federal dollars, awarding contracts to companies with strong benefits for workers and a clean record on labor violations. He will support federal employees: issuing their paychecks during shutdowns, protecting their benefits, and enabling them to rotate between departments and into the private sector.
Note: We at Labor 411 don’t endorse Bloomberg or receive payment from him or any other candidates for articles that we write. We are sharing his labor platform for informational purposes, as we have done with other candidates.
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