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Wednesday, August 3, 2016

10 Reasons Hillary Clinton Stands with Working People

For workers, everything is on the line in the November election

Working people recognize the high stakes in the 2016 presidential election.

On one side, you have Donald Trump, who supports "right to work," which takes away power from working people, and thinks your wages are too high.

On the other side, you have Hillary Clinton, who has a long history of advocating for families and working people. 

She believes that paid family leave, earned sick days, fair schedules, equal pay for women and quality affordable child care are critical, as well as the right to come together in union and negotiate for a better life.

Here are 10 ways Clinton stands with working people:

1. On Equal Pay: While in the U.S. Senate, Clinton consistently fought to decrease the wage gap between working men and women. She championed strengthening the Equal Pay Act and became a prime supporter of the Lilly Ledbetter Act.

2. On Unemployment Benefits: Clinton was there for New Yorkers during the economic downturn of 2008. She co-authored and fought for legislation to extend the unemployment benefits program, which provided much-needed economic support to working families.

3. On Sending Jobs Overseas: Clinton and more than 20 other senators sent a letter to President George Bush calling him to reject a Council of Economic Advisers report saying that the exporting of jobs overseas could be beneficial to the economy. She introduced a resolution calling on the Senate to oppose any efforts to outsource jobs.

4. On Manufacturing: Clinton worked on a bipartisan Senate Manufacturing Caucus to confront the problems facing domestic manufacturers and the working people that hold those jobs. 

5. On Working Families Legislation: Clinton supports the Employee Free Choice Act and the Employee Right to Choose Act, and she voted against the Central American Free Trade Agreement. She also supported Department of Labor employees in maintaining the Workforce Investment Act program and the Wagner-Peyser Act.

6. On Collective Bargaining: While serving in the Senate, Clinton assisted working people in unions in negotiating new contracts, including the IBEW (National Grid/Niagara Mohawk), RWDSU/UNITE HERE (Duane Reade), SMART (United Technologies/Carrier), RWDSU (Oak Hollow/Crest Hall nursing homes), Building Trades (Lafarge), IUE-CWA (Caldwell Manufacturing) and LIUNA (Department of Labor).

7. On Working People at Ground Zero: Clinton helped secure significant funding for New York and to workers impacted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. She fought for millions of dollars in medical monitoring funds to help workers at Ground Zero and for assistance to affected families and laid-off workers. 

8. On Plum Island/Operating Engineers Strike: For two years, members at Plum Island were on strike and Clinton fought tirelessly alongside them for those two years. Together, they were successful in kicking out a bad contractor and getting our brothers and sisters back to work.

9. On Fulton Plant Closure: When corporate CEOs close manufacturing plants, they are not worried about the impact this has on the working people and communities that have supported these plants for years. However, Clinton has shown time and again that she is committed to working families and communities during those difficult times. In fact, when the Nestle plant closed in 2004, Clinton called Nestle Cor. executives to push them to keep the plant open. Although profit trumped people and the plant closed, Clinton was able to secure Trade Adjustment Assistance funding for working people impacted by the plant closure.


10. On Trade/China: As senator, Clinton intervened with the Bush administration to protect jobs when they were threatened by Chinese trade barriers.