Gov. Howard Dean's answers to the AFL-CIO candidate questionnaire

[w4rma]

Good Jobs and a Strong National Economy

Employment/Unemployment
What steps will you take to revitalize America’s manufacturing sector?

As President, I will work to eliminate tax policies that provide incentives for American firms to move manufacturing jobs offshore, and to assure that all trade agreements incorporate labor and environmental protection standards. I will propose new ways to help small businesses, especially small manufacturing 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.
...
Globalization/Trade
What will you do to ensure that global trade and international economic development promote workers’ rights, good jobs and workers’ well-being?

I support fair trade. 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.

Do you support or oppose the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), based on the NAFTA model that has created import surges that cost jobs and does not require enforcement of internationally recognized workers’ rights?

I would oppose any trade agreement that does not require enforcement of internationally recognized workers' rights.

Would you support or oppose any further rounds of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements that do not make substantial progress on incorporating internationally recognized workers’ rights or fully protect U.S. trade remedy laws?

I would oppose any further rounds of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements that do not make substantial progress on incorporating internationally recognized workers' rights.

What will you do to address the trade imbalance with China and promote internationally recognized rights for Chinese workers?

I am deeply concerned about the effect of Chinese labor practices on the U.S. job market. There is a direct relationship between the growing trade deficit and the loss of American jobs. U.S. trade policies must limit the flow of jobs to countries with weak labor standards - jobs that moved from the United States to Mexico are now moving to China. I would be especially vigilant in ensuring that any trade agreements with China include labor, environmental and human rights protections. I would also ensure that such agreements protect U.S. trade remedy laws.
...
Corporate Accountability
...
What can be done to address runaway executive compensation, including stock options and retirement benefits?

I was outraged when the CEO of American Airlines recently asked union members to sacrifice wages and benefits as part of a company-wide restructuring, while he was secretly protecting his own compensation package. As President, I will pursue policies that address the growing gap between executive pay and worker salaries. For example, I would explore proposals to limit the tax deductibility of grossly disproportionate executive compensation.
(...lots more...)
http://www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/politics/candidates_dean.cfm

[ShaneGR]

1. Major dodge on the NAFTA question

Big-time dodge.

As for Labor, the AFL-CIO is meeting this weekend for their endorsement vote. While Gephardt will not carry the necessary amount of unions (2/3rds) to garner the overall endorsement he will be getting six more unions directly after the vote announcing their endorsement (Including the Teamsters).

Then the AFL will revote in October, probably for Gephardt.

[w4rma]

2. Gov. Dean's position on free trade (pro-fair trade)

...
HOWARD DEAN: No. What I said-- Well, I'll tell you what I said in a minute. But I'll follow my train of thought here, most briefly. Free trade has benefited Vermont a great deal. Here's the problem with free trade, and here's why I support fair trade, and why I want to change all our trade agreements to include human rights with trade, as Jimmy Carter included human rights with foreign policy. I still think NAFTA was a good thing. I think the president did the right thing. But the problem now is that, 10 years into NAFTA, here's what we've done. We have shipped a lot of our industrial capacity to other countries. And the ownership pattern, and the ratio of reward between capital and labor in those other countries is what it was 100 years ago in this country.

So the reason for NAFTA is not just trade. It's defense and foreign policy. That is, a middle class country where women fully participate in the economic and political decision making of that country is a country that doesn't harbor groups like Al-Qaeda, and it's a country that does not go to war. So that's in our intersect. That's why trade is really in our long term interest. What we've done so far in NAFTA is we've transferred industrial capacity, but we haven't transferred any of the elements that are needed to make a middle class. The truth is, the trade union movement in this country built America, not literally-- Well, they did do it literally with the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building, and things like that. But they built America because they allowed people who worked in factories and mines to become middle class people. And America was the strongest country on earth, and still is, because we have the largest middle class on earth, with democratic ideals. That is, working people in this country, by and large, feel that this is their country, and they have a piece of the pie, and it matters what they think.

Now, if you want trade to succeed, ultimately, we're going to have to create a climate in other countries that are beneficiaries of NAFTA where they can create a middle class with democratic ideals. That means we should not have any free trade agreements, and we should go back and tell the WTO that "you need also to include environmental standards and labor standards." Here's why. Today, if you run a factory in Iowa-- Let's suppose you spend a million dollars a year disposing of all the waste products that come out that are toxic. You can go to another country and dump all that stuff in the river and on the ground. So America, because we have environmental standards, and we're willing to trade, straight out, free trade, with countries that it's cheaper by a million dollars, before you even get to wages, to do business there, I think that's a big problem. We're essentially saying, "Our environmental laws are strict. It's cheaper for you to go into business someplace lese. Go ahead." That's the wrong thing to do.

The same with labor standards. I don't know why we should be shipping our jobs offshore when kids can work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, for a small amount of wages. And isn't that what America fought against 100 years go? Wasn't that the victory of the trade union movement? So it seems to me that my position makes sense. We've gone through 10 years of free trade. We've gotten to a position where we now need to change our trade agreements.
...
HOWARD DEAN: What I would say is, we've gone the first mile. The first decade has worked, for exactly the reasons you say. I don't disagree with the premise of the free traders. I had this discussion with Bob Rubin, and I said, "Here's the problem. We need an emerging middle class in these countries, and we're not getting one. So now is the time to have labor and environmental standards attached to trade agreements." He said, "You're totally wrong. I can't disagree with you more." I said, "How would you address the problem?" I haven't heard back. You have to deal with this problem. It's a serious problem.

JOE KLEIN: What if they say no?

HOWARD DEAN: Then I'd say, "Fine, that's the end of free trade."

JOE KLEIN: What do you mean, that's the end of free trade? Then we slap tariffs on these countries?

HOWARD DEAN: Yes.

JOE KLEIN: So you'd be in favor of tariffs at that point.

HOWARD DEAN: If necessary. Look, Jimmy Carter did this in foreign policy. If you can't get people to observe human rights, and say that we're going to accept products from countries that have kids working no overtime, no time and a half, no reasonable safety precautions-- I don't think we ought to be buying those kinds of products in this country. We're enabling that to happen. I'm serious.
...
http://www.jfklibrary.org/forum_dean.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=46131&mesg_id=46131&page=

[ShaneGR]

4. That's a little better, but....

short of calling for all out warfare on NAFTA, he's not getting any bigtime labor endoresements. And, because Gephardt stuck out his kneck so many times over twenty years... eventually... he'll get the all-out endorsement. Gephardt is the labor guy. Dean's the pissed off Dem with an attitude vote (Which isn't a bad thing.)

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

3. How is this ANY different than the DLC, the GOP, and the neo-liberals?

Republicans, the DLC, and the "free traders" all say the same thing. How is Dean any different?

Only Gephardt and Kucinich come out and say they oppose corporate trade agreements, and only Gephardt has made an INTERNATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE a campaign issue.

With Dean, and Kerry and Lieberman, we get the same old dodge.

[w4rma]

5. Dean: pro-FAIR trade; Bush/Clinton: pro-FREE trade

Free trade must equal fair trade. We are subsidizing the sometimes awful environmental practices of our trading partners, and we are subsidizing the profits of multinational corporations by not having international labor standards. If free trade allows General Motors to set up a plant in Mexico, free trade should allow the UAW to organize that plant under conditions similar to those in the US. This isn't wage parity; I am asking for shared ground rules.

Source: Campaign web site, DeanForAmerica.com, "On the Issues" Nov 30, 2002
http://www.issues2000.org/2004/Howard_Dean_Free_Trade.htm

How would paying a minimum wage for folks in other countries (when folks here in America make 10 times the minimum wage in America) help anything? An international minimum wage just means that mega corps have to pay IT professionals $6/hour, which still doesn't give an incentive to keep the jobs in America.

[ShaneGR]

6. Well, it sounds great, but not going to get him an endorsement

Seriously, it's just reality. All of the unions are going to back Gephardt (Although Steelworkers might back Kucinich) Gephardt gets the endorsements because if they don't endorse him, it makes them politically irrelevant because politicians in the future won't bother to help them because they know they won't be able to count on their support when they run for the big show. Dean can't just step in out of nowhere and garner Union endorsements. It doesn't work that way, these relationships are nurtured for years if not decades. And nobody, I mean nobody, has done more for labor than Dick Gephardt.


EDIT: BTW, I'm not a Gephardt, Dean, or Kucinich backer. They're all Dems so I like them but I have another favorite. Just being objective.

[w4rma]

11. I fully agree with you about Rep. Gephardt

Part of the reason that I am supporting Dean is because, IMHO, as President he would be more successful in fighting the Republicans in Congress.

[unfrigginreal]

20. OK...the curious want to know

This other favorite is???

I'm guessing Clark...

[ShaneGR]

27. No

I like Edwards personally, but I'm keeping my options open.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

8. Ah, Dean supports a different TITLE? Fair not Free?

Same substance, different label. I'm getting Dean, loud and clear.

[w4rma]

13. I'm beginning to think you are intentionally trying to muddy the water n/t

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

14. Dean supporters are playing word games

I've been reading Dean's rhetoric for over six months now, and I have never seen the kind of outright disinformation about corporate trade agreements as I have from the Dean camp.

Muddying the waters is right. The Dean campaign is better than the Republicans when it comes to couching their class war in feel good rhetoric.

[w4rma]

16. You are the one playing "word games", WhoCountsTheVotes (n/t)

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

18. Dean says NAFTA was "a good thing"

Read it and weep. Some of us are not fooled, because we've heard it before.

[w4rma]

25. Dean wants to renegotiate NAFTA (n/t)

[ferg]

7. fair trade is different than free trade

The free traders don't want any labor or environmental regulations in the free trade agreements.

Fair trade insists on labor standands and environmental standards in any trade agreement. I would think a fair trade agreement could include an international minimum wage. That sounds like a good idea to me.

It's an interesting step that Dean's taking. I'm pretty sure fair trade has been a progressives/Greens issue, but it's a new position for a "mainstream" politician.

But fair trade is certainly a different position than the protectionist position, and it makes sense that much of labor would prefer Gephardt's and Kucinich's position.

[sangha]

10. Including labor and environmental regs is also

the DLC's position

[w4rma]

12. I can't find anything on the DLC site on overseas labor/environment regs

...
To avert this situation, PPI proposes an ambitious new program to open markets to Muslim countries, comparable to those that now exist in Africa, the Caribbean Basin, and the Andean countries. Conditions would be imposed for participation, including cooperation in the campaign against terrorism, efforts toward regional economic integration, and commitment to reform at home. Gresser outlines a three-part approach for the program including:
...
Bilateral agreements with countries at the leading edge of reform, serving as a step to deeper integration through Free Trade Agreements; and
...
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251253&kaid=85&subid=108

...
Of course, for some on the left, the real target is Clintonism, the movement to modernize the Democratic Party's agenda and build a new progressive majority in the vital center. Over the past decade, the left opposed many of Clinton's signature initiatives, including NAFTA, the crime bill, welfare reform, and the balanced budget. Some liberals honestly believe that Clinton presided over a decline in the Democratic Party because of his successful pursuit of swing voters, ignoring the fact that he left office more beloved by the party base than any president since FDR.
...
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251798&kaid=127&subid=900056

[jiacinto]

9. And none of those three will win the nomination

And if they do then expect a 40+ state loss to Bush.

[w13rd0]

15. Dean likely won't get their endorsement for the nomination...

...but he demonstrates that it doesn't matter, he'll still stand for fair trade and look out for the interests of American workers. I'm not expecting his answers to the questionairre to sway their endorsement, but it still matters.

[sandnsea]

17. Are unions important to us?

That's a really critical question in this election I think.

The DLC web site doesn't have anything about unions or negotiating trade agreements that help the worker. When I heard Bill Richardson speak on C-Span at the DLC Convention, unions and labor rights was noticeably absent.

I don't think fair trade is enough, although helpful. We need a President who believes in unions, and I don't mean one who panders to them like Bush. I mean one who is actually going to back it up with actions. Is Gephardt the only absolutely pro-union candidate?

[JohnKleeb]

19. no Kucinich is more pro union then Gephardt even

I want us to be pro union thats what made the party a sucess being pro worker is a fundmental of every party with a heart.

[ShaneGR]

28. the difference between Gephardt and Kucinich

Gephardt was the Democratic Leader for years, and pushed labor to the forfront of the Dem agenda. Kucinich on the other hand, although very pro union, was simply not in a position of power.

[unfrigginreal]

29. I think it's interesting...

that you could debate Gephardt and Kucinich as though they were legitimate candidates. Should I credit your inclusiveness or question your political acumen?

[Octafish]

21. Kerry pro-union for 18 years in Senate

From JohnKerry.com:

The American Labor Movement

"I think it's time we had a President who will provide the only real economic security: good jobs. A President who will provide middle class payroll tax relief to get money in the pockets of workers who will spend it, not more tax giveaways for those at the top to stimulate the economy in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. A President who will index the minimum wage to inflation and raise it from a 30 year low, not increase the tax burden on the middle class and those struggling to join it."
-- John Kerry, March 27, 2003

http://www.johnkerry.com/site/PageServer?JServSessionIdr009=hwqpzm95fl.app17a&pagename=lab_main


John Kerry has a 90 percent AFL-CIO voting record over an 18-year senate career. He has fought to raise the minimum wage, cosponsored bills to outlaw Striker Replacement and provide workers with Family and Medical Leave to spend time with a new child or care for a family member. He has helped beat back Republican efforts to gut OSHA, weaken worker safety rules and cut funds from worker training and employment programs. And he has fought for workers' right to organize in his home state of Massachusetts, including SEIU workers in Boston, UFCW and CWA workers throughout the state. He's also supporting UAW organizers seeking to organize in Worcester.

[sandnsea]

22. Thanks

I'm just starting to notice the nuances between some candidates being pro some labor laws or fair trade... and pro union. I definitely want someone who has proven to be behind unions. So now I know we've got Kucinich, Gephardt and Kerry. I think Graham is pro-union as well, he actually has a very good voting record, not what I stereotyped as a southern grandpa type. Labor can't fight for itself without unions, no matter how many laws are on the books. Without unions, who is going to back you up when you need a law to be enforced? Their power gives everybody power.

[JohnKleeb]

24. thats good that we got more pro labor than I thought

and I agree with you sandnsea about unions.

[Eloriel]

31. AND DEAN!!

http://www.deanforamerica.com/site/PageServer?pagename=policy_statement_labor

Eloriel

[JohnKleeb]

23. If it comes down to Kerry and Dean

one more positive note for Kerry. Good for Kerry 90% is great although I prefer Kucinich's 98% lifetime I see nothing wrong with 90% after all that is a B+ in my schooo.

[w4rma]

26. Dean won the Wellstone award for unionizing the hospital he worked at (n/t

[Eloriel]

30. Dean is definitely pro-union

From his On the Issues http://www.deanforamerica.com/site/PageServer?pagename=policy_statement_labor

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.

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. Also 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:

much more

Eloriel