Sanders's proposalincludes the sweeping labor law reform bill he proposed in 2018.(Photo: ALM)

(Bloomberg) –Bernie Sanders wants to fundamentally overhaul U.S.labor law by expanding workers' rights to organize and strike andestablishing a new system of sectorwide bargaining. The Vermontsenator unveiled the plan Wednesday as he and most other Democraticpresidential candidates address the Iowa Federation of Labor'sannual convention in Altoona. Organized labor is a key constituencyand major source of Democratic votes, volunteers and campaignfunds.

"What I believe is that we're not going to grow the middle classof this country unless we revitalize the trade union movement andunless we provide the opportunity for millions of workers to dowhat they want, and that is to join trade unions," Sanders said inan interview on Tuesday.

Sanders's labor platform includes ending "at-will" employment,so companies could no longer fire workers without showing they had"just cause"; extending collective bargaining rights to state andlocal government employees; and allowing federal employees tostrike.

The plan would create a European-style sectoral collectivebargaining system in which labor and management would negotiateminimum standards for entire industries, rather than only companyby company. It would also halt, via executive order, pensionbenefit cuts that were made possible by a 2014 compromise signedinto law by President Barack Obama, whose vice president, JoeBiden, is now the Democratic frontrunner. Sanders called thecompromise a "middle of the night deal" and "an outrage."

Sanders's proposal includes the sweeping labor law reform billhe proposed in 2018, which would require companies to recognizeunions once the majority of workers sign cards; abolish state"right-to-work" laws that prohibit mandatory union fees; banmandatory workplace anti-union meetings; make it harder forcompanies to claim their workers are independent contractors ratherthan employees; and protect workers' jobs during workstoppages.

"What is a worker's line of defense? It is the right to strike,"Sanders said. "That is the means that you have to tell youremployer, 'Hey, we're serious.'"

His bill, which was co-sponsored in the Senate by rivalpresidential candidates Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, CoryBooker and Kirsten Gillibrand, would reverse key provisions of the1947 Taft-Hartley Act considered by some scholars and unionactivists to have played a major role in organized labor'sdecline.

The new labor platform promises a "fair transition" to Sanders'ssignature Medicare for All policy, which has become a majorflashpoint in the Democratic presidential race. AFL-CIO PresidentRichard Trumka told reporters last month that "while we would liketo see universal health care, we want to make sure that there is arole for employer-bargained plans in that plan, whatever it happensto be."

Sanders's proposal, according to his campaign, would requirethat savings from the transition to Medicare for All "result inwage increases and additional benefits for workers."

Sanders said in the interview there were "very very few, if any"union-negotiated plans that offer benefits as comprehensive aswould Medicare for All.

While a less ambitious labor law proposal died in the U.S.Senate a decade ago under Obama, Sanders said he believes increasedmilitancy in the labor movement and widespread popular supportwould help to get his legislation passed.

"I think workers are getting sick and tired of the decimation ofthe working class," he said. "I think the momentum is with us."

Sanders' plan got a warm welcome Wednesday from the ServiceEmployees International Union, one of the biggest labor groups.

"It's great to see a strong plan from Bernie Sanders to overhaulour defective and outdated labor laws," SEIU President Mary KayHenry said in an emailed statement. "This proposal is the latestsign that 2020 candidates can't ignore the millions of workersdemanding leaders rewrite the rules so everyone can join a union,no matter where we work."

Read more: 

• Corporate America braces for labornegotiations
• Trump cracks down on federal workers'unions
• As workforces evolve, unions play key roles intraining young and old

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