Kamala Harris: a friend of workers

She has a 100% voting record fighting for workers

Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Democratic nominee for Vice President running with presidential nominee Joe Biden, is a proven friend of workers.

In the four years she has been a Senator, Harris has racked up an impressive record on workers’ issues:

• A 100 percent lifetime voting rating from the AFL-CIO.
• Creating a fairer process for forming a union.
• Co-sponsoring the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act to amend decades-old Labor laws to give workers more power during disputes at work, add penalties for companies that retaliate against workers who organize and grant some hundreds of thousands of workers collective-bargaining rights they don’t currently have and weaken “right-to-work” laws in 27 states.
• Proposing a repeal of the phony “right-to-work (for less)” law.
• Proposing an equal pay law to ensure women are paid the same as men for the same work.
• Co-sponsor of Medicare for all bill sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders.
• A loud voice during the COVID-19 crisis, pushing for the Department of Labor to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard and enforce OSHA rules.
• Voting against Trump’s anti-Labor picks for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
• Voting against the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, which weakened financial regulations put in after the 2008 financial collapse.
• Opposing anti-union judges that Trump was nominating to the court for lifetime appointments.

WILL FIGHT FOR WORKING PEOPLE
Since Harris was selected, many unions have released statements congratulating her and are talking about her positive Labor record.

“We know Senator Harris will continue her relentless advocacy to ensure that we win for working people in 2020, address deepening inequality and work to unrig the rules of our economy so that everyone, not just the wealthy and privileged, can thrive,” said Lee Saunders, President of the American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

A LONG-TIME FIGHTER FOR WORKERS
Before Harris was elected to the Senate, she served as California’s Attorney General. In this position, Harris:

• Was a national leader in protecting consumers from the big banks following the Great Recession. She created the Mortgage Fraud Strike Force and refused to settle with big banks in 2012 over the mortgage and foreclosure crisis. This increased the payout to people affected from $2 billion to $18.4 billion in debt relief and $2 billion in other financial assistance for homeowners in California.
• Worked with legislators to write and pass the strongest protections in the nation against predatory foreclosure tactics.
• Prosecuted several wage theft cases including a case against eight car washes that resulted in a $1 million settlement for the 1,205 workers.
• Established a joint agreement between the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and the California Attorney General’s office that enhanced enforcement of labor violations. “Wage theft is a crime that hurts our economy and robs hard-working Californians of their livelihoods,” said then-Attorney General Harris.
• Pursued cases against financial giants that had misrepresented the sale of mortgage-backed securities, leading to huge losses for the state’s public employee and teacher pension systems, thus recovering nearly $1.2 billion from some of the largest banks in the country and helping to stabilize the pension funds.

“From standing up to big banks, to facing down the gun lobby, to fighting for the LGBTQ community, to rallying for justice in policing, Harris knows where she stands and she isn’t afraid to fight for it,” said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

DEMOCRATIC TICKET: HISTORY OF FIGHTING FOR WORKERS
In the Biden/Harris ticket, working people have two people who have a history of fighting for working people and unions.

“Workers need leaders who put their interests first – fighting for retirement security, affordable health care, and strong labor rights,” said United Steelworkers President Tom Conway.

“We are confident that Sen. Harris, like Vice President Biden, will continue to prioritize these important issues. Now, more than ever, our country needs strong leadership. Together, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris offer us a choice to put our country back on the path toward stability and shared prosperity.”

(Edited and reprinted from Ucomm Blog)