Michael Dawson -PSU wrote: "As Doug notes, Dean stands for standing for nothing."
And Doug said "Nathan talks up Dean's pro-labor rhetoric, but if he doesn't owe anyone anything, then how could labor trust him?"
What the heck do you mean, Dean doesn't owe anybody anything or stand for anything? Dean has been out courting SEIU and AFSCME leadership hard to block a Gephardt endorsement by the AFL-CIO, and appears to have succeeded. Dennis Rivera of 1199 has held fundraisers for Dean. Local labor folks are building organizations for Dean all over the country. So of course he'll owe a lot of labor folks big if he wins, and he knows it. Dean was the only major campaign out recruiting at the labor-backed Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride a few weeks ago here in NYC.
As for Dean not standing for anything, how much more specific than the following do you want for a labor union program on the right to organize? See http://www.deanforamerica.com/site/PageServer?pagename=policy_statement_labor and check out this PDF brochure on his pro-labor policies http://images.deanforamerica.com/docs/deanbroch2_JULY_28.pdf
At some point, you just start dismissing people and saying "there's no pleasing some people" and move on to folks who will take yes for an answer. I don't like everything about Dean, but his specificity on union issues is almost unbelievable.
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> From Dean's web site:
SUPPORTING AMERICA'S WORKERS Workers rights are fundamental human rights. The right to form a union is guaranteed by the constitutional right to free association. It is just as important as the right to be free from discrimination.
The American labor movement has allowed millions of hard-working Americans to move into the middle class and create better lives for themselves and their children. Unions have secured basic rights to health care, occupational safety and retirement protection. It is the absence of labor unions in many third world countries that has caused the hemorrhaging of manufacturing jobs from U.S.-based factories to offshore plants. To restore economic growth, we need to strengthen the right to unionize here at home and enforce international labor standards abroad.
Let us know your union affiliation. Join Labor for Dean.
As President, I would vigorously enforce worker protections in federal law. I would appoint a Secretary of Labor who is a real friend of workers. I would appoint men and women to the National Labor Relations Board and the federal judiciary who will interpret federal labor laws broadly to protect the rights of workers.
My commitment to the right to organize has deep roots. As Governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2002, I stood with nurses and other employees seeking to form unions. I supported binding arbitration for municipal workers. And I signed into law agency fee protection for the state employees union, thereby providing union security for state employees. Prior to my service as Governor, I had a 100% pro-labor voting record as a state legislator. I was proud when I was recently awarded the first Paul Wellstone Award by the AFL-CIO for my commitment to the rights of workers.
As President, I would work to undo the harsh anti-labor policies of the current Administration. For example, we need a tough ergonomics standard, not just another scientific study. Additionally, I would reverse the Bush Administration's soon-to-be-finalized regulations eroding the right to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
I support a number of specific proposals to protect the right of workers to form a union:
a.. Card Check. Federal labor law should be amended to declare that a union is established whenever a majority of workers have signed cards stated that they wish to unionize. This would avoid protracted and divisive campaigns in which employers use intimidation and coercion to block unionization. Republicans in Congress are proposing to ban even discretionary card-check procedures. As President, I would veto such mean-spirited anti-worker legislation.
b.. Ban on captive audience / mandatory anti-union meetings. Under current law, employers may schedule meetings that employees MUST attend at which employers advocate against formation of a union. Federal law should ban such practices.
c.. Ban on one-on-one anti-union meetings. Current law permits employers to pull individual workers off the job to attend one-on-one anti-union propaganda sessions. Such inherently coercive one-on-one meetings should be banned as an unfair labor practice.
d.. Streamlined NLRB procedures. The process by which the National Labor Relations Board certifies unions is subject to endless appeals and delays. Employers should have only one opportunity to challenge the validity of a new union, and the process must be streamlined so that workers can form a union in a timely way.
e.. New civil penalties for failure to negotiate in good faith. Right now there are no serious consequences if an employer ignores a newly formed union. There should be meaningful financial penalties available to federal regulators when an employer fails to negotiate in good faith with a union. In addition, federal law should be amended to expand the number of workers who can unionize. Tens of millions of workers are unjustifiably denied the right to unionize. The ban on unions for supervisors, agricultural workers, and independent contractors is too broad and should be narrowed. The rights of state employees to unionize should be strengthened.
As President, I will make job creation a top priority. Good jobs are the result of sound fiscal policies, progressive tax practices, and practical, necessary investments in our communities. To this end, I will propose the repeal of every last dime of the Bush tax cuts. I will work to eliminate tax policies that provide incentives for American firms to move manufacturing jobs offshore. And I will propose new ways to help small businesses access the capital they need for growth, job retention, and plant modernization so that they can compete successfully in the global economy. I will also support increased funding for workforce training.
Creating and keeping good jobs for Americans also requires the rigorous enforcement of fair trade policies. I would not negotiate trade agreements that do not include meaningful labor, environmental, and human rights protections. I would not pursue trade policies that undermine important U.S. laws and regulations, especially those that protect American workers. I will vigorously enforce anti-dumping laws.
In every way, I would use the bully pulpit of the Presidency to shine a spotlight on worker's fundamental rights and mobilize community pressure in support of working Americans. As President, I would be a strong ally in the fight for the rights of workers across the country.