Karen Hanford,running for Onondaga County Legislator - 6th District

1. A Project labor agreement is a comprehensive pre-hire collective bargaining agreement that establishes standardized conditions and wages for all contractors and subcontractors on a PLA covered project. PLAs offer:

Stable labor costs so you can bid without guessing.
Reliable supply of local skilled workers for the project duration.
Apprenticeship trained and certified workers.
A no-strike, no lockout commitment.
Binding procedures to settle disputes, so no work stoppages.
Management flexibility to meet special project needs.

Do you support Project Labor Agreements? If not, explain why.

ANSWER: I support Project Labor Agreements. They provide a level playing field for well-trained, qualified workers, promote good jobsite conditions, and keep wages circulating in our community.

2. Private school vouchers and other schemes like education tax credits for K-12 private school expenses undermine public education by taking scarce public funds away from public schools that are open to the public and shifting them to private schools.
The AFL-CIO strongly supports legislation that would strengthen public education by helping states and local school districts reduce their class sizes and finance school repair, construction, and modernization projects with protection for prevailing community wages. A growing number of public schools all across the country are being forced to set up classrooms in trailers, hallways, and closets in order to accommodate their rapidly rising enrollments. One-third of all public schools also need extensive repair or replacement.

What is your view of proposals to provide for private school vouchers and/or charter schools?

ANSWER: I do not favor private school vouchers. Our four children attended our public school. I was a member of the Marcellus School Board. The best way to maintain our school facilities is through direct community involvement which diminishes under the voucher system.

What would you do to improve the state of disrepair many of our public schools are currently experiencing?

ANSWER: Involve the local community. But first schools need programs like parent teacher nights, sports events, class fundraisers etc. to get the parents into the schools and raise awareness of conditions that need improvement. Without concerned, participating parents and grandparents any school system can fall into decline. An engaged community will not vote down school budgets, initiatives, or building projects.

3. Ninety-four percent of workers say firing an employee for supporting union representation is an “unacceptable action” and 80 percent say they are aware that such actions are against the law. Nevertheless, employers illegally fire union supports in 31 percent of organizing campaigns and many use other tactics to thwart workers’ efforts to form unions.
A recent report by Human Rights Watch shows that existing laws are too lax and unenforced to prevent employer attacks on workers’ rights. For instance, while employers can prevent unions from contacting workers at their work places to discuss the advantages of union membership, they are free to deluge workers with anti-union messages.

Do you believe employers should be held accountable for their anti-union activities?

ANSWER: Yes I do. I believe in the rule of law, but realize that when laws are not enforced they are ignored. All parties should abide by the letter of the law as well as the intent of the law which is to allow employees free choice and opportunity in regard to union membership.

If yes, what actions should be taken against companies that violate workers’ rights to organize?

ANSWER: Whatever action that is required by law should be taken.

How could labor laws be improved to guarantee workers’ right to organize?

ANSWER: First they should be enforced. Second, if that is not effective and violations continue, penalties should be increased.

4. While the economy has been growing, this growth has been accompanied by a sluggish job market that seems to provide too few with a rising standard of living or greater economic security. Economists have attributed this unique predicament to several factors, including corporate downsizing, global competition, the introduction of labor saving technologies, and a pattern of increasingly large rewards to more highly skilled employees. Indeed, a recent study found that most Americans today are worse off than they were before the 1989-1991 recession.
Many northeast communities have lured businesses or encouraged them to stay through tax incentives. However, these incentives have not prevented those companies from downsizing the jobs of those very same taxpayers who offered the tax breaks in the first place.

Should companies be able to accept such tax breaks only to downsize thereafter?

ANSWER: No.

How would you correct this apparent inequity?

ANSWER: First, communities are often too eager to bring businesses in and do not do their homework. Sure the business will provide jobs, but how many, for how long, at what pay scale, and at what cost per job to the taxpayers? Communities would be better served to use good accounting practices to determine if a package actually makes sense and helps their citizens in both the short and long term. Any "deal" should include employment guarantees that provide balance for tax breaks and other incentives.

5. An honest day’s work should be rewarded with an honest day’s pay. That’s what a “Living Wage” is all about. Living wage ordinances have been enacted in 80 localities across the nation and have been passed in Rochester, Buffalo and New York City.
A living wage ordinance requires employers to pay wages that are above federal or state minimum wage levels. Only a specific set of workers are covered by living wage ordinances, usually those employed by businesses that have a contract with a city or county government or those who receive economic development subsidies from the locality. The rationale behind the ordinances is that city and county governments should not contract with or subsidize employers who pay poverty-level wages.
The living wage level is usually the wage a full-time worker would need to earn to support a family above the federal poverty line, ranging from 100% to 130% of the poverty measurement. The wage rates specified by living wage ordinances range from a low of $6.25 in Milwaukee to a high of $10.75 in San Jose ( A wage of $8.96 an hour with health benefits is recommended for Syracuse, NY.).
Living wage ordinances provide much needed raises for low-income workers. Wages for the bottom 10% of wage earners fell by 9.3% between 1979 and 1999. The number of jobs where wages were below what a worker would need to support a family of four above the poverty line also grew between 1979 and 1999. In 1999, 26.8% of the workforce earned poverty-level wages, an increase from 23.7% in 1979.

Can you provide a good reason why you would not support legislation that requires a living wage for workers? Please include your position on a living wage for Syracuse-area workers.

ANSWER: I support a living wage for Syracuse-area workers.

6. “Down-waging” has become a standard practice by highly profitable companies who replace full-time workers with part-timers, temps or sub-contract out for lower wages and poorer benefits. Between 1980 and 1995, 42-million jobs were lost in the United States. Each year, there are 50 percent more people laid off than are victims of crime, which raises the question of which is the greater social ill.
Reduced wages and benefits negatively impacts on families’ ability to afford adequate health care. Forty-three million Americans do not have health insurance and another million lose it each month.

And, while many parents believe college costs will be the biggest expense they face for their children, in fact many will spend more in a year on quality child care than on public college tuition, according to a new Children's Defense Fund (CDF) report.

The AFL-CIO supports guaranteed high-quality child-care, health care, job education and training.

What steps can elected officials take to ensure that these benefits are available to all Americans?

ANSWER: Elected officials have an obligation to look hard and long at economic development opportunities that bring new jobs to their communities. Any job that ultimately raises taxes, lowers wages, replaces you when you reach the top of the pay scale and leaves you and your family unable to afford childcare and health insurance isn't doing to do anything for the citizens local politicians are sworn to represent.
I personally favor giving people the choice between tax credits for stay-at-home parents or access to quality child-care. I also favor universal, quality healthcare. We now have two Americas, one that already has these benefits and the ever increasing "other" that does not. Even if social justice is not a priority for some, the resulting social ills its absence creates make an overwhelming arguement for universal health and child care.

7. Those who advocate the privatization of government services seek a significant reduction in the government’s role in society. But, market-oriented policies cannot be relied on, by themselves, to meet our citizens needs.
Studies conducted by Cornell University found that the claims by privatization ideologues, are “quite groundless” and the empirical research supporting such claims are “so flawed as to be useless as a policy guide.”
Instead, privatization of government services has been shown to
•diminish the access to public services
•reduce employee morale, productivity and turnover
•exploit part-time workers through low wages and benefits
•increase discrimination against minorities
•cause the loss of government sovereignty
•weakens constitutional rights (e.g., whistle blowing, ethical conduct)
•reduce quality of services
•increase corruption, bribery and kick-backs
•lose accountability for public values and services.

Do you support privatizing public services? Please explain your answer.

ANSWER: No, I do not support privatizing public services. Privatization requires profits and adds another layer of expense. If there are efficiencies to be gained, let's use those dollars to lower taxes, not line pockets and over pay high level executives.

8. As an elected official, how would you ensure that the voice of labor and community-based agencies are recognized on decision-making bodies such as the Industrial Development Authority?

ANSWER: I am not conversant with the operations of the IDA.
I would assume that it has a Board of Directors. Based on my experience
on college, not-for-profit, school, and business boards I would think
that this type of board (such as the IDA) would need to have significant
representation from community-based agencies and labor to make
intelligent decisions and to be effective. If this is not the case, that would be my first reccomendation and I would be willing to promote it.

I would next suggest presentations to the governing boards by labor that
focus on training and apprenticeship programs as the best place to begin
demonstrating the value that union programs bring to a community and its
development. I would be willing to participate.

My personal experience is that educating decesion-making bodies or
individuals is critical. Unions in particular need to generate good
press for their excellent programs to overcome the negative anecdotal
evidence that is common in our society. Starting with the decision-makers would seem the best choice.

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Greater Syracuse Labor Council Questionnaire