BEFORE YOU VOTE LOCALLY REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 2016

• R E P U B L I C A N P L A T F O R M 2 0 1 6 •
done with their dues. They have outlawed alternatives
to unions even when they were favored by the
workers.
Their Project Labor Agreements discriminate
against the overwhelming majority of workers by
barring them from jobs on taxpayer-funded projects.
Their patronizing and controlling approach
leaves workers in a form of peonage to the NLRB.
We intend to restore fairness and common sense to
that agency.
Technology has already created jobs that did
not exist fifteen years ago, and today’s workers
need flexibility and family-friendly options to make
the most of them, especially portability in pension
plans and health insurance.
We intend to encourage those trends by bringing
labor law into the 21st century. It should encourage
cooperation between management and
workers, not conflict. All workers, including union
members, must be free to accept raises and rewards
without veto power from union officials. All
unionized workers should be able to find out what
is going on in their union trust funds and in their
executive compensation. We support the right of
states to enact Right-to-Work laws and call for a
national law to protect the economic liberty of the
modern workforce.
All Americans deserve the opportunity to pursue
their American dream free from discrimination.
Clear nondiscrimination policies ensure all employees
have the chance to succeed based solely on
their merits. These policies are vital to creating an
inclusive, innovative, and competitive workforce.
Republicans believe that the employeremployee
relationship of the future will be built
upon employee empowerment and workplace
flexibility. We therefore endorse employee stock
ownership plans that enable workers to become
capitalists, expand the realm of private property,
and energize a free enterprise economy.
Minimum wage is an issue that should be handled
at the state and local level.
A Federal Workforce Serving the People
The federal workforce is larger and more highly
paid than ever. The taxpayers spend an average of
$35,000 a year per employee on non-cash benefits,
triple the average non-cash compensation of the
average worker in the private sector. Federal employees
receive extraordinary pension benefits and
vacation time wildly out of line with those of the
private sector.
We urge Congress to bring federal compensation
and benefits in line with the standards of most
American employees. A Republican administration
should streamline personnel procedures to expedite
the firing of bad workers, tax cheats, and scammers.
The unionization of the federal workforce, first permitted
by Democrat presidents in the 1960s, should
be reviewed by the appropriate congressional committees
to examine its effects on the cost, quality,
and performance of the civil service. Union representatives
in the federal workforce should not be
paid to conduct union business on the public’s time.
Reducing the Federal Debt
Our national debt is a burden on our economy
and families. The huge increase in the national
debt demanded by and incurred during the current
Administration has placed a significant burden on
future generations. We must impose firm caps on
future debt, accelerate the repayment of the trillions
we now owe in order to reaffirm our principles of
responsible and limited government, and remove
the burdens we are placing on future generations.
A strong economy is one key to debt reduction,
but spending restraint is a necessary component
that must be vigorously pursued.
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