Labor

We have now made a complete mockery of the so-called mock mark-up process. Even when the Finance Committee acts unanimously to adopt an amendment, it has no meaning and no impact on the unamendable fast-tracked implementing bill (establishing a free-trade agreement with Oman) that is sent to the Congress.

Leaving out my amendment preventing goods made from forced labor to benefit from this trade agreement is a slap in the face to the Senate and to American workers. It is particularly appalling that the White House believes that imports made with the benefit of human trafficking, forced labor and slave-like working conditions should get special, duty-free access under bilateral trade agreements. American workers should not be forced to compete with forced labor of any kind.

John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO


Something is very wrong when Congress can vote itself NINE raises while failing to increase the $5.15 an hour minimum wage since 1997. Congressional inaction has pushed the value of the minimum wage to its lowest level since 1955—a 51 year low!

The disregard in which leaders of the current Congress hold working families has rarely been on greater display than in today’s defeat of Sen. Kennedy’s “Fair Minimum Wage Act."

Republican leaders have the nerve to try to sneak in poison pill provisions that weaken and eliminate the wage and hour protections workers currently have. They tried to don a political fig leaf with a smaller increase, but could not resist adding measures that would have stripped overtime and minimum wage protections from more than seven million workers and undermined the 40 hour workweek. Fortunately, that cynical move failed.

Full-time work at the minimum wage is not enough to keep even a small family out of poverty. And when the wage floor rises, all workers benefit.

Republicans should come out of the shadows and support a straightforward minimum wage increase that will give workers the raise they deserve, not one that provides political cover.

An increase to $7.25 is the right thing to do, and America’s working families are counting on it.

This week the Senate is expected to take up the Defense Authorization bill, S. 2766. However, because there is no requirement in the Senate that amendments be germane to the underlying bill (remember, this is also the place that requires a super-majority -- 60 votes -- to cut off debate), Sen. Kennedy (D-MA) will reportedly be offering an amendment to raise the minimum wage. A few points:-- As a rule of thumb, the minimum wage almost always comes up in a year divisible by 2, i.e., an election year. It is more prevalent still in years divisible by 4. It is not an economic issue, but rather a political issue.-- You will read in almost any MSM commentary that the current minimum wage worker doesn't earn enough to pull a family of 4 out of poverty. That's correct. However, it's fair to ask, "How many minimum wage earners are the sole breadwinners of families of 4?" Answer: Not many.

-- You will hear that minimum wage workers "haven't gotten a raise" in X number of years. This is an old (albeit effective) rhetorical trick. It assumes the minimum wage population is a static universe. It is not. The minimum wage population tomorrow is different than the minimum wage population today, a dynamic group.

-- The minimum wage is meant to be a bottom rung, from which people can climb to higher earnings. Try this test: How many people that you know (including yourself) ever made the minimum wage? Almost all, no doubt. How many make it today? Probably very few, if any.

-- The fact is that raising the minimum wage costs jobs. It does every time it's raised. Those marginal jobs at the bottom rung just get eliminated.

-- For those who cry crocodile tears about helping the so-called "working poor" (most of whom make far in excess of the minimum wage), there is a direct correlation between skills and education levels and wages. If you want to lift people out of poverty, support efforts (as we do) to train workers and give them the skills they need to succeed in this 21st century workforce.

In any event, keep this primer handy as the debate plays out this week. You're not likely to hear these points in the media coverage of Sen. Kennedy's biennial effort.

 

 

Congressman John Spratt and I sent a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative recently. We asked our colleagues to join us: We are writing to ask you to cosign the attached letter to the United States Trade Representative.The letter urges USTR to accomplish two objectives: 1) obtain a Special Textile Sectoral in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Development Round, and 2) insist on a textile safeguard system, or an extension of the current quotas as part of Vietnam's terms of accession to the WTO. Accomplishing these two objectives are vital steps to help ensure that more than half a million textile workers in the U.S. and tens of millions around the world keep their jobs and have an opportunity to compete against heavily-subsidized textile and apparel imports from China.

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Congressional Republicans should be ashamed that their refusal to address the minimum wage has allowed it to now drop to the lowest level in 50 years when adjusted for inflation. On Tuesday, I was very pleased that my amendment to the FY07 Labor Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill to gradually increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25, based on a bill introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-CA), passed the Appropriations Committee. Though the Republicans are threatening to strip the amendment from the bill, we will fight to have the minimum wage language included in the final Labor-H bill. Millions of American families are depending on it.

It is the worst kind of hypocrisy for Congress to vote itself another pay increase this year while continuing to ignore the hardworking families struggling to survive on the minimum wage. With this proposed increase, Congress will have increased its own salary by more than $34,000 in the last nine years, while minimum wage workers have not seen another cent in their paychecks. How can Congress keep saying yes to itself, and no to these millions of deserving working families? It’s long past time for Congress to give these hardworking Americans a raise.

With the President set to sign into law the first sweeping reforms to mine safety in 28 years, reforms that will better protect the nation’s miners, MSHA needs a leader who understands mining and mine safety first hand. I am disappointed that some Senators have allowed politics to influence their vote for a permanent director of this vitally important agency.

Unless the Republican leadership gets in the way, the House is now poised to vote to increase the national minimum wage for the first time in a decade, after a crucial vote in the Appropriations Committee yesterday on an amendment offered by Congressman Steny Hoyer to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25. For the almost 8 million American workers who struggle to survive on minimum wages, this potential raise is long overdue.

Congress has not raised the national minimum wage from $5.15 per hour since 1997, despite Democrats’ repeated efforts to do so. But the price of basic goods, like food and gasoline, have been rising, making it even harder for minimum wage workers to meet even the most basic needs. In fact, the national minimum wage is now at its lowest level in 50 years when adjusted for inflation, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

At $5.15 per hour – which comes to about $10,712 per year for a full-time worker – it is impossible to afford health care, enough nutritious food to eat, or safe and decent housing.

All Americans should get a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. It would be immoral for any members of Congress to stand in the way of this important vote.  

   

Now more than ever, our nation’s miners need and deserve a strong leader at the head of the Mine Safety Health Administration. Mr. Stickler has an abysmal record on mine safety and he is not the right person for the job. During his career as a coal industry executive, he focused on profits and production, not on worker safety With the recent passage of the mine safety legislation, it is even more important that we have an Assistant Secretary who will vigorously lead the agency and put these new protections in place quickly. I will vote no on Mr. Stickler’s nomination and I will urge my colleagues to do the same.

Democrats outlined their concerns regarding labor issues in Oman back in November 2005. In the months since, we have maintained a clear, consistent position requiring that Oman's labor laws comply with the most basic International Labor Organization (ILO) standards. We have asked no more and can accept no less than this - a standard we achieved through negotiation on the Bahrain Free Trade Agreement.

Oman is a good friend and ally of the United States, and for that reason Democratic members and staff have spent countless hours negotiating toward agreement. Despite our clear, consistent position and request, Oman has not changed its practices nor has it formally changed its labor laws. We appreciate the efforts that have been made by the Omani government, but unfortunately, it is the view of the Democratic minority that they have not achieved the basic minimum labor standards outlined by the ILO.