Legislative Principles

1. We believe that full time work (not to exceed 40 hours per week) under a minimum wage should provide a living wage.
2. We support a minimum wage law that applies to all workers, including guest, migrant and seasonal agricultural employees.
3. We support a Workplace Privacy Policy regarding non-work/non-safety invasion of privacy.
4. We oppose privatization of public jobs and outsourcing of private jobs.
5. We support collective bargaining for all workers.
6. Labor policies must be worker and family friendly.
7. We oppose job discrimination based on age, disability, ethnicity, gender, marital status, political activity, union membership, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or other non-merit factors.
8. Retirement benefits must be assured.
9. We support protected political activity by employees.
10. We support international fair-trade agreements, including union organizing and non-exploitation of workers and children.
11. We encourage public support for safety and training of workers.

Action Items

1. We believe that full time work (not to exceed 40 hours per week) under a minimum wage should provide a living wage.
   
   1. We support the enactment of "living wage laws and ordinances.”
   2. We support Oregon's minimum-wage law, efforts to raise it, and its link to the cost of living index.&&We oppose tip credits, training wages, and all other efforts to erode Oregon's minimum wage.
2. We support a minimum wage law that applies to all workers, including guest, migrant and seasonal agricultural employees.
   
   1. We oppose current or future guest worker legislation that adversely affects workers’ rights. We support living wage and labor standards for all workers regardless of their immigration status.
   2. We reaffirm our support for prevailing-wage laws (Davis-Bacon law).
   3. We support coverage of all migrant and seasonal agricultural employees under Oregon's minimum wage law.
3. We support a Workplace Privacy Policy regarding non-work/non-safety invasion of privacy.
   
   1. We support a Workplace Privacy Policy that enacts rigorous standards to prevent non-work/nonsafetyinvasion of privacy in the workplace including, but not limited to, safeguards on the use of psychological; genetic; or bodily fluid, tissue, and hair testing; computer monitoring; electronic surveillance; physical and electronic mail monitoring; telephone eavesdropping; and investigative consumer credit reports.
4. We oppose privatization of public jobs and outsourcing of private jobs.
   
   1. We oppose all efforts that privatize public services.
   2. We oppose outsourcing government jobs, including signing contracts that outsource as subcontract positions.
5. We support collective bargaining for all workers.
   
   1. We support Collective Bargaining including:
      
      1. Expanding the scope of what is bargainable to level the playing field between workers and their employers.
      2. Requiring staffing and workload levels to be mandatory items of bargaining, and
      3. Contract protection, prohibiting the use of the initiative process to bypass or impede negotiated contracts.
   2. We support the right to organize:
      
      1. We support the rigorous enforcement of laws that make it illegal for any business to require its employees to forfeit their right to organize and collectively bargain. We recommend severe economic penalties be imposed upon violators of these laws, and
      2. We support the rights of healthcare and home care workers to be included in the definition of employee, thereby giving them all the rights and benefits of Oregon Labor Law, including the right to organize.
   3. We support equitable compensation, benefits, job security opportunities, and the right to collective bargaining representation for temporary and part-time workers.
   4. We oppose the replacement of permanent and full time workers with increasing reliance on temporary and part time workers.
   5. We believe unions should continue to have the right to assess non-member workers for the cost of representation directly benefiting them.
   6. We believe in preventing employers from hiring permanent replacement workers during a strike.
6. Labor policies must be worker and family friendly.
   
   1. We support overtime and shift differential pay.
   2. We support voluntary flextime, job sharing, and other innovative work schemes that promote work and family viability.
   3. We support modification of Oregon Worker Compensation laws to restore fairness to injured workers and return to a no-fault system to:
      
      1. choose their health-care provider,
      2. require employers to provide "suitable and available" work for compensable injuries that are adequate to constitute as full employment as possible for the employee,
      3. provide an expedited system for contested hearings, and
      4. litigate if the employer willfully violated the law.
   4. We support injured workers' rights to seek adequate compensation and support for on-the-job injuries or occupational disease through two options, the judicial and jury system, and the Workers' Compensation Law.
   5. We support extending unemployment insurance coverage to agricultural workers identical to that enjoyed by non-agricultural workers.
   6. Unemployment compensation should be extended to all employees.
   7. Maintain and/or improve the Oregon Family Leave Act.
   8. Provide funding to increase staffing of Oregon OSHA.
   9. We oppose efforts to eliminate unemployment benefits by taxing benefits or by requiring workers to accept the first available job without regard to experience and previous wage rates.
   10. We oppose “welfare to work” laws that do not include adequate childcare, transportation, healthcare, and other associated costs of work; or which force workers to accept jobs that adversely affect family viability.
7. We oppose job discrimination based on age, disability, ethnicity, gender, marital status, political activity, union membership, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or non-merit factors.
   
   1. We believe in the principle of equal pay for work of comparable worth.
   2. We believe equal access to remedies should be available to all victims of employment discrimination.
8. Retirement benefits must be assured.
   
   1. We support protection of Social Security and oppose any effort to privatize it. We support proposals to direct budget surpluses to save Social Security first and we oppose the use of SSA funds for anything other than authorized Social Security Programs.
   2. We oppose attempts to increase minimum age requirements for eligibility of retirement benefits.
   3. Prohibit state government from using PERS funds to balance the state general fund.
9. We support protected political activity by employees.
   
   1. We support the constitutional right of all employees to have voluntary political deductions through voluntary payroll check off and to fully participate in the political process, both individually and collectively.
   2. We support the right of all workers, including agricultural workers, without exception to organize without penalty or interference from the employer.
   3. We support labor representation on public boards and commissions.
10. We support international fair-trade agreements, including union organizing and non-exploitation of workers and children.
    
    1. We support on-going efforts to assist organizing of independent unions in foreign countries. We believe that all international trade agreements should include provisions that support labor standards and protect the rights of workers.
    2. We believe in fair international trade practices and we do not desire to make other nations into sweatshops for U.S. consumers. We support trade sanctions, the withholding of "most favored nation status," and tariffs on the products from\ those trading partners that exploit child labor or engage in human rights violations.
    3. We support the repeals of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the Free Trade Areas of America (FTAA).
    4. We support protection of all children, nationally and globally, against exploitation in the workplace.
11. We encourage public support for safety and training of workers.
    
    1. We support strengthening criminal penalty provisions of the Oregon Safe Employment Act, to include criminal penalties for employers whose violation of health and safety standards results in death or injury of a worker.
    2. We support increased access and funding for retraining services for dislocated workers.
    3. We support public funding of training services for incumbent workers in order for them to maintain their skills and employability.
    4. We support increased access to job skills training and education for public welfare recipients.