社会创新

第一天项目

通过国民讨价还价基金来支持历史上处于弱势群体的工人

11.04.23 | 9 min read | 文字塞思·平克尼

Summary

Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) are underrepresented in labor unions. Further, people working in the gig economy, tech supply chain, and other automation-adjacent roles face a huge barrier to unionizing their workplaces. These roles, which are among the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. economy, are overwhelmingly由BIPOC填充工人。在没有这些工人的安全网的情况下，种族财富差距将继续增长。拜登 - 哈里斯政府可以通过建立一个国家的诚信基金来促进种族平等，并支持低薪BIPOC工人的工会化工作。

As a whole, unions举起工人to a better standard of living, but historically they have failed to protect workers of color. The emergence of labor unions in the early 20th century was propelled by the passing of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), also known as the Wagner Act of 1935. Although the NLRA was a beacon of light for many working Americans, affording them the benefits of union membership such as higher wages, job security, and better working conditions, which allowed many to transition into the middle class, the protections of the law were没有申请给所有工人平等。20世纪的工会经常被隔离，而BIPOC工人经常被排除在工会的好处之外。例如，《瓦格纳法》排除国内和农业工人以及允许工会在其他行业（例如制造业）中歧视有色工人。

Today, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and amid a renewed interest in a racial reckoning in the United States, BIPOC workers—值得注意的年轻和女性BIPOC工人 - 正在领导组织自己的工作场所的努力。除了要求工资公平和公平待遇外，他们还为工作中的健康和安全而战。工会工人平均赚钱工资的11.2％比未统一的同龄人高11.2％。工会化的黑人工人的收入比非统一的同龄人高出13.7％，联盟的西班牙裔工人多20.1％。但是，每一步，科技巨头和跨国公司都在反对工人的努力和组织的法律权利，使组织一项冒险的事业。

诚信基金将支持国家讨价还价vide immediate and direct financial assistance to workers who have been retaliated against for attempting to unionize, especially those from historically disadvantaged groups in the United States. This fund offers a simple and effective solution to alleviate financial hardships, allowing affected workers to use the funds for pressing needs such as rent, food, or job training. It is crucial that we advance racial equity, and this fund is one step toward achieving that goal by providing temporary financial support to workers during their time of need. Policymakers should support this initiative as it offers direct payments to workers who have faced illegal retaliation, providing a lifeline for historically disadvantaged workers and promoting greater economic justice in our society.

Challenges and Opportunities

The United States faces several triangulating challenges. First is our rapidly evolving economy, which threatens to displace millions of already vulnerable low-wage workers due to technological advances and automation. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated automation, which is a long-term strategy for the tech companies that underpin the gig economy. According to a报告在一个独立的研究小组中，自动驾驶出租车可能会在2030年到2030年统治乘车市场，仅在美国就可以移动800万人驾驶员。

其次，我们有一代工人由于数十年的反工会活动而没有收获与高薪工会工作相关的好处。截至2022年，工会会员资格已从1950年代的私营部门的工资和工资工人的30％下降到仅6.3％。工会代表的工人百分比的下降与广泛而深厚的经济不平等，停滞的工资和中产阶级缩小有关。较低的工会会员率有助于扩大支付差距适用于有色人种的工人。

Third, historically disadvantaged groups are代表过多在非工厂，低工资，基于应用程序和自动化的工作中。这在很大程度上归功于系统性种族主义。这些结构对BIPOC工人获得高质量的教育和培训，创造和传递世代财富或遵循获得工会代表所需的步骤的能力产生了不利影响。

工人面对巨大的反对to unionization efforts from companies that spend hundreds of millions of dollars and use retaliatory actions, disinformation, and other intimidating tactics to stop them from organizing a union. For example, in New York, Black organizer Chris Smalls led the first successful union drive in a U.S. Amazon facility after the company fired him for his activities and made him a target of a涂片运动against the union drive. Smalls’s story is just one illustration of how BIPOC workers are in the middle of the collision between automation and anti-unionization efforts.

最近对工人权利的支持激增是一个有希望的发展，但是BIPOC工人面临的挑战超出了反工会策略。雇主的报复也是一个问题。针对报复的工人的工作时间减少甚至失业。例如，进行了调查在Covid-19-19的大流行开始时，八分之一的工人认为，​​雇主对提出健康和安全问题的同事的可能报复行动。此外，黑人工人的可能性是白人工人的两倍以上。这种清醒的统计数据清楚地提醒了BIPOC工人在提倡更好的工作条件和工资时必须导航的歧视和经济不安全层次。

现在是制定强大政策支持历史上处于不利地位的工人的时间。推进种族平等和种族正义是拜登 - 哈里斯政府的重点，政治和社会意志很明显。第一天Biden-Harris行政管理命令通过联邦政府推动种族平等和支持服务不足的社区的支持寻求制定旨在促进所有人的股权的政策，包括有色人种以及历史上不投资，边缘化和受到持续贫困和不平等的不利影响的其他政策。此外，白宫的建立是一个重大发展。在副总统卡马拉·哈里斯（Kamala Harris）和劳工马蒂·沃尔什（Marty Walsh）秘书的带领下，工作队旨在使工人通过联邦政府政府的政策，计划和惯例来组织和谈判与雇主进行谈判。

工作队的重点是通过检查和应对司法管辖区的工人在限制性劳动法，边缘化的工人和某些行业的工人面临的挑战来提高服务不足社区的工人权力。鉴于对通过创纪录的数字向国家劳资关系委员会提出的请愿书以及过去两年中罢工的崛起。工作队赋予工人权力并支持他们通过联邦政府政策和计划组织和谈判的能力的方法提供了有前途的机会，以应对BIPOC工人在工会化工作中面临的独特挑战。

国家诚信基金的国家谈判是一项关键倡议，可以通过向面对雇主反对的工人提供经济援助，拒绝进行善意讨价还价的雇主，从而扩大了对黑人，土著和其他工会的机会，从而扩大有色人种。此外，拟议的倡议将加强有关雇主歧视和报复的平等就业机会委员会（EEOC）和国家劳资关系委员会（NLRB）政策。善意基金的讨价还价将向雇主进行报复的工人直接付款，以对他们进行工会组织活动。该倡议还包括监视案件，这些案件违反了参与工会组织的工人，并将其议价部门与相关资源联系起来，以支持他们的努力。在工作队的支持下，该基金可以对面临组织障碍的工人的生活产生重大影响。

行动计划

虽然在联邦一级采用了诸如诚信基金的讨价还价之类的政策是前所未有的，但我们从成功的州级倡议中汲取了灵感，旨在改善工人的福祉。两个明显的例子是制定的倡议加利福尼亚和纽约在州立法者为受到19日大流行影响的工人提供临时货币援助的地方。从这些成功的计划中获取线索，我们可以制定联邦政策，以更好地支持工人，尤其是那些属于历史弱势群体的工人。

成功实施工人领导，，，，联合组织， 和community-ledstrike assistance funds, as well as similar initiatives for low-wage, app-based, and automation-adjacent workers, indicates that the Bargaining in Good Faith Fund has strong potential for success. For example, the同事团结基金provides legal, financial, and strategic support for worker-activists organizing to improve their companies, while the fund invests in ecosystems that increase worker power and improve economic livelihoods and social conditions across the U.S. South.

纽约州立法者还为他们的变革性树立了先例排除工人基金，这为遗漏的大流行救济计划的工人提供了直接的财政支持。由纽约州立法机关和州长通过的21亿美元排除的工人基金是该国同类公司的第一个大规模计划。通过研究和建立这些成功，我们可以制定联邦政策，以更好地支持全国各地的工人。

A national program requires multiple funding methods, and several mechanisms have been identified to establish the National Bargaining in Good Faith Fund. First, existing policy needs to be strengthened, and companies violating labor laws should face financial consequences. The labor law violation tax, which could be a percentage of a company’s profits or revenue, would be directed to the Bargaining in Good Faith Fund. Additionally, penalties could be imposed on companies that engage in retaliatory behavior, and the funds generated could also be directed to the Bargaining in Good Faith Fund. New legislation from Congress is required to enforce existing federal policy.

其次，作为为维护工人权利而战的自然盟友，工会应将部分会费分配给基金。通过汇集他们的资源，可以将一部分工会会费指向联邦基金。

第三，应将支付给联邦失业保险计划的一部分费用重定向到诚信基金会。

Fourth, existing funding for worker protections, currently siloed in agencies, should be reallocated to support the Bargaining in Good Faith Fund more effectively. To qualify for the fund, workers receiving food assistance and/or有需要家庭的临时帮助should be automatically eligible once the NLRB and the EEOC recognize the instance of retaliation. Workers who are not eligible could apply directly to the Fund through a state-appointed agency. This targeted approach aims to support those who face significant barriers to accessing resources and protections that safeguard their rights and well-being due to historical labor exploitation and discrimination.

几个联邦机构可以合作监督善意基金的讨价还价，包括劳工部，EEOC，司法部和NLRB。这些机构有权维护工人的福利，执行禁止就业歧视的联邦法律，起诉公司进行刑事报复的公司，并执行工人的权利进行协调一致的保护活动，例如组织工会。

结论

自1935年《国家劳资关系法》通过以来，联邦政府制定了支持工人组织和集体谈判的政策。但是，在过去的86年中，联邦政府尚未完全实施其政策，从而对BIPOC工人产生负面影响，在工会过程和工作中面临系统性种族主义。此外，快速的技术进步导致了任务的自动化和劳动力市场的变化，对有色工人的影响不成比例。因此，在接下来的二十年中，美国可能会看到财富不平等的增加。

Biden-Harris政府现​​在可以通过建立一个国家善意基金的国家谈判来支持历史上处于弱势群体的工会努力来促进种族平等。因为这是一个紧迫的问题，所以可行的短期解决方案是在接下来的18个月内启动试点计划。必须制定一项承认并解决这些工人经历的历史劣势的政策，并支持他们实现经济公平的努力。