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Ted Kennedy on Labor
Senator Kennedy speaks out for labor as President Haynes looks on“Unions mean the difference between an economy that is fair and an economy where working people are left behind. The fundamental promise of the American dream is that hard work leads to success and a better life for families.” - Senator Edward M. Kennedy
Senator Kennedy was consistently one of the Senate’s most loyal advocates for working families across the United States. He continually supported the establishment of a fair minimum wage and has argued for the rights of unions to negotiate contracts and improve worker’s ability to collectively bargain. He vehemently opposed legislation that makes it easier for employers to interfere with workers wishing to form a union and has fought to protect employee benefits. He believed strongly that unions help bolster the middle class and provide economic security. Kennedy was responsible for the last three raises to the minimum wage, as well as continuing to protect pensions throughout his Senate career.
Kennedy sponsored the Healthy Families Act, a bill that would allows workers to earn paid sick time for use when either they or their family members are sick. The passage of this bill would eliminate the need for workers to risk losing income if they stay home from work when sick. Prior to the introduction of the Healthy Families Act, Kennedy helped pass the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. This allowed workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a sick family member, newborn child, or themselves given an unpredictable medical issue.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act was lead through the Senate by Kennedy. This Act extended federal health and safety protections to workers and effectively created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Senator Kenneday at a rally for the Employee Free Choice ActThe Employee Free Choice Act was also introduced to the Senate by Kennedy. This vital legislation would amend the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, making it easier for employees to “form, join, or assist labor organizations” by allowing employees to choose freely whether to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation, provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes and establish harsher penalties upon employers who violate employees' rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations. The Employee Free Choice Act would allow employees to form a union once a majority of workers have signed cards indicating their willingness to unionize. Employers are prevented from using scare-tactics, intimatidation, threats, and coersion to prevent unions from forming. If employees are fired as a result of expressing pro-union sentiments, harsher penalties will be incurred by the employers such as civil penalties and the responsibility of paying triple the back-pay of the fired employee. Click here for Senator Kennedy's remarks to the Senate on the Employee Free Choice Act.Through the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, Kennedy expanded collective bargaining rights to include public safety employees, such as firefighters and police officers. He has also sponsored and co-sponsored countless pieces of legislation that make it easier for workers to associate and form a union, as well proposed reforms to OSHA that would provide stricter safety regulations for workplaces.
Through his efforts on Capitol Hill, Kennedy has brought home considerable appropriations to Massachusetts, in the form of compensation for fisherman and improved research-funding, and vast improvements in the area of public safety, such as advanced training for law enforcement personnel. He has also helped provide more training opportunities for workers in the high-tech sector to prevent these jobs from going overseas.
To learn more about the strides Senator Kennedy has taken to further the labor movement and provide security to working families, click here.
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