North Dakota Democratic-NPL Stands for Labor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 1, 2023

CONTACT:
Laura Dronen
Communications Director
(701) 566-0616
laura.dronen@demnpl.com

Fargo, ND – In advance of Labor Day, Democratic-NPL Chair Adam Goldwyn remarked, “The importance of the American worker cannot be overstated. As a union member myself, I know how critical it is to defend workers’ rights. I’m also proud to say our hard-working Dem-NPL Staff is unionized. President Biden is the most pro-union and pro-worker president in history. Over the last two and a half years, he and Democrats have turned the page on failed trickle-down economics and focused on rebuilding the economy so it works for working families. The North Dakota Democratic-NPL stands in solidarity with workers everywhere as we celebrate this precious holiday.”

Here’s how North Dakota Democratic-NPL has advocated for workers:

● Secured funding for school lunches with the help of labor unions

● Proposed a package of child care bills to make it more affordable for working North Dakota families

● Fought for rural workforce housing grants to ensure workers can afford to move to our small towns and help our communities thrive

● Championed raising the minimum wage in North Dakota, which hasn’t risen in a decade and a half

● Established scholarships for apprenticeship program participants, so young workers can develop the skills necessary for the job with the help of mentors

Here are a few highlights of how President Biden has delivered for workers and organized labor:

● Over 13 million jobs created—including adding 187,000 jobs in August alone

● Wages are higher than last year and higher than before the pandemic, accounting for inflation—with lower-wage workers seeing the largest gains

● Raised the minimum wage for federal workers and contractors

● Helped save the pensions of hundreds of thousands of union workers and retirees through the Butch Lewis Act, which Senator Heidi Heitkamp championed during her tenure

● Sparked over $480 billion in private-sector manufacturing and clean energy investments

● Hundreds of thousands of auto industry jobs were created, including more than 120,000 auto manufacturing jobs

● Strengthening, modernizing, and expanding apprenticeship programs to help connect Americans to good-paying union jobs

● Ensuring the overwhelming majority of the investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act are covered by Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements

● Appointed a general counsel and board members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) who are committed to protecting the right of workers to organize