The National Consumer League believes that the consumer interest is best served when all have the opportunity to earn a living wage. Opportunities for adequate levels of income for all should be pursued vigorously, including for youth, minorities, people with disabilities, women, and low-income workers. Neither responsible consumers nor policymakers want lower prices at the cost of worker exploitation.
The National Consumers League urges:
1. Employment of all workers to the fullest extent possible; maximum employment goals should be integrated into basic national economic policy.
2. Coverage of all workers by minimum wage laws, with rates periodically reviewed and raised as productivity and living costs require. These laws must be monitored and vigorously enforced. The feasibility of moderate reductions in the work week, flextime, and part-time work with maintenance of wages and benefits should be examined, as a means of increasing worker productivity and health. NCL does not support the use of a contingency workforce as a means to avoid providing benefits or paying an adequate wage. Serious consideration should be given to substituting an automatic index based on average nonagricultural wage increases that would tie wages to an average rate.
3. Support of the right of all workers to form unions, collectively bargain, and be protected by public authorities from unfair disruptions in these pursuits. First contract disputes of newly organized workers should receive mediation and arbitration. Stronger penalties should be established for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first contract negotiations. The role of the National Labor Relations Board, as guardian and arbitrator of fair labor-management practices, as well as that of state Public Employees Relations Boards and the National Mediation Board must be strengthened. Intrusion into the privacy of employees must be prohibited.
4. Accident prevention programs, safety training, and effective safeguards against toxic materials and hazards in order to maintain healthy conditions in the workplace should be updated and expanded on a regular basis.
5. Increased relevancy and accessibility of workforce and vocational rehabilitation training programs and career counseling, particularly for minorities, older workers, and women returning to the labor market. The private as well as public sector should institute retraining to equip workers faced with changing technologies. The federal employment service and other employment programs should be strengthened to encourage full employment and assure wide opportunities for training and for jobs. Private employment agencies should be regulated to prevent abuses, excessive fees, or unethical practices.
6. Expansion of workers’ compensation programs and unemployment insurance and enactment of federal minimum standards for these programs.
7. Elimination of discrimination in hiring, promoting or firing, and strong enforcement of anti-discrimination laws by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
8. Effective enforcement of fair labor standards and worker protections at all levels of government in the U.S. and abroad, including compliance with international agreements, made possible by adequate staffing levels of compliance officers.
9. Equal fair labor standards protection and coverage at all levels of government for agricultural and non-agricultural workers.
10. Child labor policies that protect children’s health, the quality of their lives, and their ability to produce effectively as adults.
11. Stronger protections in the U.S. and abroad safeguarding youth from excessive, inappropriate, and hazardous child labor.
12. Adoption of international conventions that promote fair labor standards and worker protections in the U.S. and abroad.
13. Family and medical leave policies that promote worker productivity and health.
14. Working to improve workplace accessibility so that all workers can contribute fully and equally with their colleagues.
––Adopted October 1, 2004
