Mayor Pete Buttigieg Introduces A New Rising Tide: Empowering Workers in a Changing Economy

SOUTH BEND, IN — Today, Mayor Pete Buttigieg laid out a comprehensive set of policies under his latest proposal: A New Rising Tide Agenda: Empowering Workers in a Changing Economy. As we enter a new era marked by rapid technological and environmental transformation, Pete lays out his plan to master those changes and ensure that every American can share in our country’s growth. The policy proposal builds the foundation to meet the economic challenges we face by raising wages and affording American workers more protections, flexibility, and control.

“Our economy is changing, and too many Americans are working full time, some working two or even three jobs, and still finding it impossible to make ends meet,” said Buttigieg. “Things continue to get more expensive, but paychecks aren’t getting any bigger. That’s why I’m proposing that we restore fairness and balance to our economy, so that every American worker can afford a trip to the doctor, can put themselves through college, and can save enough to retire comfortably. Let’s make sure that in this coming era, the tide continues to rise — and truly lifts all boats.”

The plan outlines bold actions to restore workers’ rights that have been eroded by decades of anti-worker policies by government and corporations alike, and ensure that all workers in this country are treated with respect and fairly compensated:

• Passing a $15 federal minimum wage and indexing wage growth; 
• Guaranteeing bargaining rights for all American workers – including gig economy workers, fast food industry employees, and subcontract workers; 
• Advocating for equal pay and promotion for equal work through legislation requiring the public disclosure of the total pay gap at every large company; 
• Putting in place measures to ensure employers can’t interfere with union elections, including strong, multimillion-dollar penalties that scale with company size and requiring equal airtime on company time to ensure that workers also hear from union organizers ahead of union elections; 
• Expanding bargaining rights, by enshrining the right to multi-employer bargaining for workers at unionized worksites of employers in the same line of work and expanding worker protections for domestic and farm workers; 
• Instituting independent worker forums, free of employer domination and control that are elected by workers in their workplace, that are legally empowered to 1) meet and confer regularly with the company about workers’ concerns and 2) relay information to workers; 
• Awarding government contracts to companies that take the high road, meaning that they are unionized and offer good pay and benefits to their workers. 

Read the full text of the plan HERE.