At the recent 2012 GOP Convention a platform was adopted with the obvious purpose to eliminate labor and undermine collective bargaining. The proposed platform would attempt to eliminate the NLRB voting rules for fair union elections and enact a national right to work law. Other direct attacks on labor written into the program would seek to repeal Davis-Bacon and put rules in place that would undermine collective bargaining altogether.
The platform’s written statement criticized the Obama administration’s support of labor unions and promised to enact legislation to restore a “rule of law to labor law.”
Left out of the platform was any mention of the right to belong to a union and to bargain collectively. However, it urges states to adopt right-to-work laws and, in a new first for the GOP, calls for the enactment of a national right-to-work law.
The platform demanded repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act and the end of project labor agreements. In the recent Congress there were eight attempts to eliminate prevailing wage requirements under the Davis-Bacon Act. This platform would continue those attacks.
These policies clearly demonstrate that the Republican Party is more aggressive and hostile to organized labor than in previous election years.
Elected Republican officials nationwide are urged to continue the attacks on public sector workers rights and pensions. The actions in Wisconsin were specifically mentioned as the way to fix problems in other state’s financial woes, by removing the rights and benefits of hard-working men and women.
“This program introduced by the GOP is an assault on unions and the hard working American, said TCU President Bob Scardelletti “This program will eliminate the rights and benefits of workers across the country. This election is growing more and more critical for the American worker, they must know that the GOP is out to destroy their way of life.”