Bloomberg Campaign Press Release - Mike Announces Bold Plan to Protect America's Workers

Raises minimum wage to $15 per hour, guarantees paid family and sick leave, and expands benefits and protections for all workers across the country

Strengthens America's unions, ensures 21st century workforce has access to fair benefits, and safeguards Americans' pensions and retirement savings

Read Mike's full policy here

NEW YORK — February 15, 2020 – Today, Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg released his plan to protect and empower the American workforce of the 21st century. American workers and families across the country are struggling to make ends meet, hamstrung by inadequate wages and benefits. As president, Mike will prioritize workers by removing barriers to union membership, increasing economic mobility and worker voice, expanding benefits for vulnerable communities and safeguarding retirement funds to honor the contributions of hard-working Americans.

Workers are the backbone of the U.S. economy, and yet their rights are under attack. Workers' purchasing power has barely changed in the past 40 years, only 19% of workers get paid family leave, and more than 30 million Americans aren't entitled to paid sick days. Meanwhile, President Trump has waged a war on workers – making it harder for certain workers to collectively bargain, moving to weaken protections won by unions and abandoning an Obama-era measure to expand overtime pay. The Trump administration has nominated a Labor secretary with a history of fighting labor laws, proposed policies allowing for discrimination against LGBTQ+ workers and created a White House where male staffers are paid nearly 25% more than female staffers.

"I started out in an entry-level job, and in building my business, I have always believed that our company's most valuable asset is our 20,000 employees – and that's why we are committed to providing good pay and the best benefits money can buy, including industry-leading paid parental leave," said Mike Bloomberg. "Donald Trump inherited his wealth and does nothing but pay lip service to the working people who drive America. It's past time to increase wages, guarantee paid leave and make it easier to organize – and, as president, I'll get it done."

As a business leader with a record of operating a great place to work, Mike's plan seeks to guarantee all American workers the wages, benefits and protections they deserve. As president, Mike will raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour to ensure that all employees are fairly compensated for the time they spend working. Mike's company offers one of the most generous parental leave policies in the U.S. Today, the U.S. lags woefully behind its peer nations in offering paid parental leave; as president, Mike will work with Congress to provide 12 weeks of paid family leave. He will require all companies to offer seven days of sick leave and ensure all employees are paid during that time.

Under this plan, Mike will defend one of the most powerful traditional protections for workers: unions. He supports the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which will protect American workers and further empower them to organize and collectively bargain. He will preserve Americans' hard-earned pensions and retirement savings and restore dignity to the federal workforce. Overall, Mike's plan to protect American workers will bring fair jobs and wages to all communities, especially those shortchanged by President Trump.

Mike's Plan to Protect Americans Workers

Mike will support the country's workforce, guaranteeing all Americans a living wage, a voice in the workplace and the mobility and opportunity needed to build a fulfilling career. His plan will expand benefits and protections to cover all Americans, including domestic and farm workers and those in the gig economy. And he will safeguard retirement benefits and pensions to honor the contributions of hard-working Americans.

HOW MIKE WILL GET IT DONE

1. RAISE THE BAR FOR WORKING CONDITIONS NATIONWIDE. Many Americans are struggling to get by, working for inadequate wages and benefits. Too many people are living in debt and unable to save – with 78% of workers reporting that they are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Only 19% of civilian workers are entitled to paid family leave and more than 30 million American workers do not receive paid sick days, including about 70% of employees in the lowest-wage jobs.

As president, Mike will take action to extend basic protections nationwide. He will:

• Raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and index it to inflation. As president, Mike will sign the Raise the Wage Act to increase take-home pay for millions of workers, and will ensure that all employees are adequately compensated for time on the job.
• Require employers to give 12 weeks of paid family leave. Mike will work with Congress to pass legislation providing paid family leave, allowing the U.S. to join peer nations in offering paid parental leave.
• Ensure all employees have access to seven days of paid sick leave. Mike will sign the Healthy Families Act to require seven days of sick leave, and will ensure all employees are paid during leave.
• Prevent gender discrimination. Mike will create new protections for American women by signing the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
• Expand the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)'s power. Mike will enforce labor laws and enable workers to protect their rights in court by supporting the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and its provisions to ensure workers are protected against labor violations – and have the right to sue employers in court.

2. PROTECT AND EXPAND AMERICANS' POWER TO BARGAIN IN THE WORKPLACE AND PROMOTE NEW MODELS TO SAFEGUARD WORKER RIGHTS. Workers' organizations and collective bargaining have been essential mechanisms for millions of workers to win hard-fought rights, wages and benefits.

As president, Mike will promote democracy in the workplace, protect workers during labor negotiations and spur sectoral bargaining in certain industries. He will:

• Defend the process for forming and joining unions. America's unions are under siege. Mike will ensure that anti-labor legislators don't cripple unions and that workers have a strong voice, free from harassment.
• Protect bargaining rights and promote new models to safeguard worker rights. Mike will act to protect workers in the course of labor negotiations, will support specialized courts to resolve disputes and will spur sectoral bargaining in those sectors, such as fast food and retail, where workers are highly organized but face barriers to unionization.
• Empower vulnerable communities of workers to organize. Some of the most vulnerable workers are excluded from basic protections, including in sectors like agriculture and domestic work that have high populations of workers of color. Mike will make sure that workforce protections extend to farmworkers, domestic and home care employees, undocumented workers, and coal miners.

3. FOSTER A SKILLED AND INNOVATIVE 21ST-CENTURY WORKFORCE. As the American economy evolves, the nature of work is changing, too. Yet federal policy has been slow to respond.

Mike will enact proactive federal solutions for workers who are struggling in the "gig economy," being displaced by automation or adjusting to new technologies in the workplace. He will:

• Ensure deserving "gig economy" workers receive full employee benefits. Mike will prevent employers from using independent contractor rules to exploit workers, enacting a new federal standard for "employee" on the model of California's "ABC" test and making misclassification a substantive violation of law.
• Create portable benefits. Mike will direct the Department of Labor (DOL) to propose a pilot of "shared security accounts," to allow workers to accrue and access benefits even as they switch employers.
• Help displaced workers build their careers. Mike will expand the worker-training tax credit, set a goal of enrolling one million students each year in apprenticeship and quality-credential programs and pilot "career security accounts" to help pay for lifelong learning that can be critical to career adjustments. He will create a data-driven workforce-development project to analyze job quality in the changing economy and help target skills programs and economic development to high-growth sectors.

4. PROTECT PENSIONS AND RETIREMENT SAVINGS. More than a million Americans are at risk of losing their pensions due to insolvency risks, with multiemployer plans in particular peril.

Mike will make sure these plans remain solvent and that Americans do not lose their retirement security. He will:

• Pass the Butch Lewis Act. Mike will pass the Butch Lewis Act, raise the maximum coverage for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's multiemployer insurance benefits to at least $25,000, and ensure workers with multiemployer pensions are protected.
• Protect social security access. Mike will make sure that workers who pay into Social Security receive their deserved benefits. He will remove the Government Pension Offset – enabling hard-working teachers, firefighters and police officers to take full advantage of Social Security – and oppose efforts to weaken or remove pensions for public-sector employees.

5. LEAD BY EXAMPLE. The federal workforce is vast and roughly one in five American employees works for a business that has a federal contract.

As president, Mike will prioritize the wages, conditions and morale of his employees, and will make the federal government a model place to work. He will:

• Prioritize rewarding federal contracts to applicants with pro-worker policies and a clean record on labor violations. Mike will model his approach on President Obama's – requiring transparency among applicants and ensuring that employers with a strong record on wages, safety, collective bargaining and civil rights have priority in receiving taxpayer-funded contracts.
• Insist that federal contractors pay a prevailing wage and that the government buys American. Mike will protect the Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act against repeal and make sure they are fully enforced. Mike will also use project labor or community workforce agreements when appropriate.
• Respect the federal workforce. A Bloomberg administration will ensure federal workers are paid during shutdowns, increase pay across the government, reverse the Trump-era shifting of retirement costs onto employees, and oppose efforts to reduce health-care benefits and raise premiums.
• Create a national initiative enabling federal workers to rotate through the government and into the private sector. Mike will encourage his leadership team to provide opportunities for employees to rotate between departments and into the private sector, building dynamic careers through exposure to a range of workplaces.

ADDITIONAL QUOTES:

"Mike Bloomberg cares about our nation's workers and so do I. He will fight to keep good-paying jobs in our communities and he will address affordability by creating economic opportunity for all Americans," said Congresswoman Haley Stevens (MI-11). "As president, Mike will increase funding for the Earned Income Tax Credit, require companies to follow minimum standards for scheduling and expand funding for childcare to address unsustainable costs for all families. These policies will directly impact quality of life for millions of hard-working people, who are often just a paycheck away from financial hardship. In order to climb the ladder of success, the rungs of the ladder must be secure. Mike knows this because he's self-made. He worked his way through college and grew up in a middle class community. I know Mike will do everything he can to make the American dream possible for every American."

"Our brothers and sisters in labor cannot continue to live paycheck to paycheck. We need someone in the White House who understands that our workforce is the core of our economic growth. Their success is America's success," said Mike Michaud, Former Congressman and Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training. "Mike Bloomberg's plan will give our partners in labor the right opportunity to bargain fairly, and provide workers and their families a sustainable source of income."

"From growing up middle-class and fighting for everything he's ever achieved, Mike Bloomberg knows how hard it can be to get ahead. And when it comes to fighting to improve the lives of working people, he won't just talk the talk, he knows how to actually get things done," said Congressman Max Rose (NY-11). "From raising take-home pay for millions of workers and ensuring that people get adequately paid for the hours they pull, requiring employers give 12 weeks of paid family leave and supporting working families by expanding funding for childcare—it's time we put government back on the side of people who work hard and ask for nothing more than fair compensation and opportunity for their families. Mike's policies not only make sense, but are the right thing to do and he'll fight to make them a reality."

"We need to get people paid a decent wage to better provide for their families and we need federal action now. And Mike Bloomberg's plan tackles the perpetual problems facing our public and private sector unions, and our vulnerable workforce. By guaranteeing a $15 minimum wage, paid family leave and sick leave, and making sure that independent contractors get their fair share, we will provide a sustainable and liveable economy for all Americans," said Kathy Sheehan, Mayor of Albany, New York.

Melinda Miles, Mayor of Mount Rainier, Maryland, former employee of the National Education Association (NEA), and Prisoners Aid Association of Maryland, Inc. (PAA) said, "I am a proud former member of the National Education Association and Prisoners Aid Association. And I know that Mike Bloomberg understands what's at stake if we do not elevate our laborers. His ambitious agenda will give everyone an opportunity to protect fair wages, the right to organize and fight against unjust working environments."

"Mike Bloomberg's labor agenda is a game changer! It offers a strategic approach that will cover all facets of worker protections," said New York State Senator Diane Savino. "Mike's plan gives the National Labor Review Board the tools it needs to set a level playing field for all workers. Whether it's raising the national minimum wage to $15 an hour, enhancing domestic and farm workers' rights, or improving collective bargaining for millions of Americans, Mike's plan will finally give American workers the foundation to provide for their families."