As the 110th Congress begins its work, the Teamsters union is making sure that workers are the focus. In November, working families demonstrated their strength. Our votes and voices changed the nation’s priorities. Americans decidedly rejected six years of failed policies from the Bush administration.

This is an important year for working Americans. The challenges we face include the lack of affordable health care, growing retirement insecurity, dwindling workplace rights, job-killing trade agreements, unsafe highways and concerns about our national security.

What is clear is that the new Democratic majorities in the House and Senate have an extraordinary opportunity to improve the lives of working families. Access to wellpaying jobs, affordable health care and a secure retirement should be a right, not a privilege, for all Americans.


Raise the Minimum Wage

The vote in the House to raise the federal minimum wage is a great start, and it’s long overdue. The wage, now at $5.15 an hour, hasn’t gone up in a decade. For millions of Americans, an increase in the minimum wage will make the difference between living in poverty and not. A person working full-time and paid the current federal minimum wage earns about $10,700 annually. This is well below the poverty level for a family. When factoring in the erosion effect of inflation since the last minimum wage increase, the situation becomes even worse.

Before the last election, 22 states had already raised the minimum wage, and since then voters in six more states ratified similar initiatives. The Teamsters support the House bill that would raise the hourly wage to $7.25 an hour. But raising the minimum wage is not enough to restore confidence in the American dream for workers.


Strengthen Rights at Work

The Teamsters are urging Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The right to form a union has been a fundamental way for workers to join together to improve their pay, benefits, and working conditions. This right stands in jeopardy as employers increasingly use threats, harassment and coercion to prevent workers from forming a union.

Polls show that almost 60 million unorganized American workers would join a union if given the opportunity. Intimidation by employers is the main reason workers cannot freely exercise that right. The act would require employers to recognize the union after a majority of workers sign cards authorizing representation. It also would provide for mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes, and would authorize stronger penalties for violation of the law.

Passage of EFCA will help justice prevail in the workplace.


Health Care For All

Now is the time to make universal health care a reality. Despite a 7.7 percent rise in costs over the last year, benefits are being reduced. Close to 16 percent of all Americans do not have any health insurance. Eighty percent of the nearly 46 million uninsured Americans are from working families. Quality, affordable health care for all Americans must be a priority for this Congress.


Retirement Security For All

We must ensure that all Americans are provided with retirement security and work to reverse the decline in defined benefit pension plans. More than 40 percent of working families are in danger of not having enough retirement funds.


Fair Trade, Not Free Trade

Congress likely will vote the Peru and Colombia free trade agreements, which are just as flawed as previous ones. They lack labor protections and would allow foreign governments to take control of critical infrastructure assets.

The Teamsters will oppose these job-killing agreements until they include adequate worker protections, safeguard U.S. jobs and stop undermining our domestic regulations.

Fast-track presidential trading authority sunsets on June 30. The current model has not worked and does not have sufficient support in the new Democrat-controlled Congress. The Teamsters are working to change that model, including how trade agreements are negotiated, and requiring Congress to vote before trade pacts can be signed and finalized with other countries.


Unsafe Mexican Trucks

The Transportation Department has publicly expressed its intention to implement a pilot program that would initially allow 100 Mexican carriers access to the United States beyond the currently permitted commercial zones.

This presents a serious safety risk. Mexican trucks and drivers do not meet all of the U.S. safety requirements, especially in the amount of time they are allowed to drive, drug and alcohol use and HAZMAT background checks. The Teamsters will fight against unsafe Mexican trucks traveling our roads and putting our driving public at risk.

Posted Jan. 10 on The Hill’s Congress Blog