August 21, 2024
From the second this convention kicked off, the union difference has been front and center. In speech after speech, Democrats have embraced unions as the pathway to the middle class. Democrats have talked the talk. Now the labor movement will make sure they walk the walk to advance workers’ rights.
We’re excited that tonight Governor Tim Walz, a former public school educator and union member, takes the stage to lay out the vision of an America built from the bottom up and middle out. An America with union workers driving progress, innovation and leading us into the future The labor movement is ready to ensure Walz can bring this unwavering commitment to working people’s issues directly to the White House.
Talking Points
- Tim Walz has a track record of delivering on real, tangible victories for Minnesota workers that protect their rights, improve their quality of life and build a brighter future for their children speaks for itself.
- Tim Walz has proven that a pro-worker agenda is a winning agenda, especially in competitive states. During his tenure as governor of Minnesota he delivered on a comprehensive, pro-union legislative package and created the gold standard for state governments aiming to do right by workers.
- Walz has enacted some of the most pro-worker packages of legislation of any state in the country, including laws to:
- Guarantee paid family and medical leave and mandate paid sick days so workers wouldn’t have to make the impossible decision between a paycheck and theirs and their family’s health.
- Prohibit non-compete clauses. This sweeping ban eliminated an unfair restriction on workers that can often force them to stay in a job they want to leave or face significant harms and costs upon quitting.
- According to the Federal Trade Commision, non-compete agreements are a practice that “suppresses wages, hampers innovation, and blocks entrepreneurs from starting new businesses.”
- Bar employers from holding anti-union captive audience meetings to coerce and intimidate workers.
- The Economic Policy Institute found that National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) elections documents show that 89% of all employers conduct captive audience meetings in response to worker unionization efforts. The use of captive audience meetings caused the average union election win rate to fall from 73% to 47%.
- Employers spend over $400 million per year on “union-avoidance” consultants, who specialize in using captive audience meetings to instill fear in workers for the purpose of union-busting.
- Strengthen protections for meatpacking workers and Amazon warehouse employees to prevent workplace injuries and hold employers accountable for unsafe working conditions.
- Strengthen the collective bargaining power of teachers’ unions, including allowing bargaining over critical issues like educator-to-student classroom ratios.
- Create a statewide council to improve conditions for nursing home workers. This first-in-the-nation board was given the power to set minimum pay and benefits for workers at all nursing homes across the state, raising the standard for how these essential workers are compensated.
In addition to these landmark legislative accomplishments, Walz also:
- Reached an historic deal with Uber and Lyft that amounts to a 20% increase in driver pay and provides statewide wage and worker standards, even in the face of threats from Uber and Lyft to end service in Minnesota.
- Invested $2.6 billion in much-needed infrastructure projects that create good, family-supporting jobs that pay prevailing wages.
- Issued Executive Order 23-07, which established the Governor’s Committee on the Compensation, Wellbeing, and Fair Treatment of Transportation Network Company Drivers.