There’s no debate on who deserves our vote for president

If you care about jobs, rights, environment… you’ll vote for Hillary Clinton

By JEFF JOHNSON

(Sept. 27, 2016) — Regardless of who you think performed better during the televised presidential debate last night, if you are a working person, a union member, there is no debate about who to vote for.

If you care about jobs, union representation, and economic security, you will vote for Hillary Clinton. And if you care about the rights of women, people of color and immigrants, you will vote for Hillary Clinton. If you care about stopping climate change and protecting our environment, public health, jobs, and quality of life, you will vote for Hillary Clinton.

Let’s compare the candidates on a few issues:

JOBS

Trump says he supports so-called “Right-to-Work,” outsources production for his clothing business to Bangladesh, Mexico, Vietnam, and China, and is fighting a union organizing effort at his hotel in Las Vegas.

Clinton supports the right to join a union, equal pay, paid sick days, 12 weeks of paid family leave, fair scheduling and raising the federal minimum wage to $ 12 an hour.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Trump wants to spend $500 million a year on infrastructure and claims he will do this through selling bonds, even though Congress has refused to accept debt financing of infrastructure of this magnitude over the past seven years. Congress is even less likely to agree to this if Trump succeeds with his proposed tax cuts for the wealthy because, according Moody’s Analytics, the government would bring in $4.5 trillion less in tax revenue.

Clinton wants to invest $1.2 billion in new infrastructure development in roads, bridges, tunnels, modernizing the electric grid, and clean energy projects financed by taxing the wealthy, a financial industry transaction tax, and through the creation of a national infrastructure bank. Her plan includes $50 billion in infrastructure investments for underserved communities, $20 billion for youth employment programs, and $5 billion for prison re-entry.

WAGES

Trump and believes wages are too high and agrees with the Republican Party platform that would repeal Prevailing Wage laws and Project Labor Agreements. After flip-flopping on the minimum wage, Trump says increases should be left up to the discretion of the states.

Clinton supports raising the federal minimum wage for both tipped and non-tipped workers. She supports strengthening laws giving workers the right to join a union and maintaining Prevailing Wage laws and Project Labor Agreements.

HEALTH CARE

Trump wants to repeal Obamacare and turn health care back over to private for-profit insurance companies.

Clinton wants to strengthen Obamacare by allowing those 50 and older to buy into the Medicare system, repeal the so-called “Cadillac Tax,” and limit prescription drug costs for families to no more than $250 a month.

COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY and STUDENT DEBT

Trump has called for turning educational loan servicing over to the private sector. Trump is being sued by students who attended Trump University for failure to provide them with useful skills.

Clinton wants to make public university free to families with incomes under $125,000 a year, expand Pell Grants, and allow students with high student loan debt to renegotiate their interest rates. She also wants to allow loan forgiveness after 20 years of consistent payments.

These are just some of the differences between Trump and Clinton on issues important to working families.

We have 43 days to make a qualitative difference in what our future looks like. On Wednesday, Nov. 9, it will be too late.

Between now and Election Day on Nov. 8, we need to convince our unions’ members that we can make a positive difference and that their vote matters — at the top of the ballot all the way down to the bottom of the ballot. As leaders we need to step up to this challenge.

Jeff Johnson is President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, the largest labor organization in the Evergreen State, representing the interests of more than 600 local unions and approximately 450,000 rank-and-file union members.