For the first time in history, the Democratic platform calls for a Model Employer Executive Order to ensure that the U.S. Government does business with corporations that pay workers living wages and allow them to form unions. Read more …

Model Employer Executive Order Included in Dem Platform!

By Isaiah Poole, Campaign for America’s Future

One of the unheralded victories in the Democratic Party platform – the call for a Model Employer Executive Order – promises to put the party officially back on the side of workers.

The language – endorsed by both the Clinton and Sanders camps – states:

“Democrats support a Model Employer Executive Order or some other vehicle to leverage federal dollars to support employers who provide their workers with a living wage, good benefits, and the opportunity to form a union. The $1 trillion spent annually by the government on contracts, loans, and grants should be used to support good jobs that rebuild the middle class.”

A broad-based coalition – including Good Jobs Nation, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, 20 National Faith Leaders, and 18 U.S. Senators – has been pressing the Presidential candidates to pledge to sign such an executive order.  

A study by the public policy organization Demos estimates that such a policy could create good jobs for at least 8 million workers employed by federal contractors.

The inclusion of the Model Employer Executive Order in the platform also shows that the Democratic Party is committed to building on President Obama’s labor legacy.   After repeated strikes by low-wage U.S. contract workers in the nation’s capital, President Obama used the power of the pen to improve federally-funded low-wage jobs by issuing executive orders to raise the minimum wage, crack-down on wage theft, and extend paid leave on federal contracts.

“By including the Model Employer Executive Order in the platform, the Democratic Party is recognizing the reality of legislative dysfunction and committing to build on President Obama’s labor executive actions,” said Joseph Geevarghese, director of Good Jobs Nation, which has been mobilizing low-wage workers in support of the executive orders.

“More importantly, this move signals that Democrats are beginning to unite behind a key governing principle – the U.S. government should be on the side of America’s workers, not big corporations,” he said.

Original post: https://ourfuture.org/20160628/good-jobs-clause-is-good-news-in-the-democratic-platform