WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressional Progressive Caucus Co- Chairs Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), and First Vice Chair Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) sent a letter today to President Donald Trump urging him to sign an executive order that gives preference to government contractors that are model employers. This includes employers who pay livable wages, provide good benefits, and allow workers collective bargaining power.
Read the full text of the letter below and attached here:
April 25, 2017
President Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We call on you to issue an executive order giving preference in government contracting to model employers. During the election, you promised workers “more jobs and better wages.” We urge you keep this promise and use your executive powers to help workers before your first 100 days are over.
The federal government continues to be America’s largest low-wage job creator, subsidizing poverty-level wages through taxpayer-financed contracts, loans and grants with private companies. To add insult to injury, federal contractors steal nearly $2.5 billion from worker paychecks every year. As a result, many of these workers are forced to rely on public assistance programs to supplement their meager incomes. That means taxpayers are double-billed—once for the cost of the contract and then again for the cost of public programs like food stamps and Medicaid. In addition, a new report by Public Citizen and Good Jobs Nation estimates that 54 percent of the top federal contractors continue to offshore jobs.
That’s why we are asking you to issue an executive order giving preference in contracting to model employers who pay a living wage, offer fair healthcare and retirement benefits, grant paid leave for sickness and caregiving, provide full-time hours and stable schedules, and give workers a voice through collective bargaining so they do not need to strike to be heard. Beyond that, these model employers must keep jobs in America.
It’s not too late to turn your promises into policies that help America’s workers. You can start by making sure that American’s tax dollars are only invested in American companies that create good jobs for our workers, not corporations that steal from their workers and ship jobs overseas.
Sincerely,
Keith Ellison
Co-Chair, Congressional Progressive Caucus
Raúl M. Grijalva
Co-Chair, Congressional Progressive Caucus
Mark Pocan
First Vice Chair, Congressional Progressive Caucus
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The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is the largest caucus within the House Democratic Caucus, with over 70 members standing up for progressive ideals in Washington and throughout the country. Since 1991, the CPC has advocated for progressive policies that prioritize working Americans over corporate interests, fight economic and social inequality, and promote civil liberties. The CPC champions progressive policy solutions like comprehensive immigration reform, a $15 national minimum wage, fair trade, gun violence reform, debt-free college, and making the federal government a Model Employer.
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