Labor and Economic Justice Plank

General Preamble

Ventura County Democrats support organized labor and workers’ rights.  Equal pay for equal work should apply regardless of gender or race.  Our workforce with its strong work ethic is one of California’s most valuable resources.

California’s prosperity depends on jobs that support a high quality of life.  Food, affordable housing, clothing, health care and education are basic human rights.  We are committed to safeguarding these basic human rights and to strongly supporting public services that address poverty, hunger, and homelessness.  Services provided to the poor, elderly, and disabled strengthen all Californians.

To meet these basic economic needs, Ventura County Democrats will:

Statement of Principles

• Support efforts to make it easier for employees to form unions so that the individual employee is on a more equal footing with the rights of the employer to terminate at will.
  

• Support increasing the minimum wage to be a living wage;
  

• Fight against extreme income and wealth inequality and support efforts to close the income gap;
  

• Support equal pay and equal opportunity for promotion of women, veterans and minorities;
  

• Support maintaining and expanding private and public sector jobs that help the middle class grow, achieve self-sufficiency, and provide for retirement;
  

• Fight for public assistance programs that allow individuals to support themselves and their families;
  

• Fight for meaningful tax reform that eliminates corporate welfare and achieves a more equitable tax system for middle and working class families;
  

• Promote expansion of emergency food networks, senior and school meal programs;
  

• Encourage use of local workers and businesses whenever public funds are used for infrastructure;
  

• Pay prevailing wages on government funded projects;
  

• Support local hire, veterans hire, apprenticeship and other job training programs;
  

• Support the 8-hour work day and fight efforts to repeal the 40 hour work week;
  

• Resist any efforts to weaken child labor laws;
  

• Enhance worker safety programs in order to prevent injuries;
  

• Rigorously enforce worker safety and environmental protection regulations with audits, inspections and appropriate financial penalties;
  

• Protect collective bargaining rights of workers and encourage or assist in recognition of workers’ rights to organize;
  

• Fight anti-labor efforts that attempt to weaken worker rights;
  

• Support the creation, protection and strengthening of employee pensions;
  

• Support the use of Project Labor Agreements for all publicly funded projects;
  

• Support the full implementation of private employees participation in public pension programs;
  

• Support efforts to protect workers from abuse and intimidation in the workplace;
  

• Boycott employers who have permanently replaced strikers and protect the collective bargaining rights of workers;
  

• Support expedited fair labor dispute resolution for employees who are not permitted by law to strike;
  

• Fight initiatives and legislation seeking to undermine the ability of union leaders to engage in political activities on behalf of their members;
  

• Support workers legally exercising their right to strike; and
  

• Support full employment policies for all workers.