When considering the idea of a Workers’ Bill of Rights, know that this is NOT a new idea. 81 years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the nation during his State of the Union Address and proposed a Second Bill of Rights or Bill of Economic Rights.
Roosevelt was acting in the context of the Great Depression of the 1930’s and the victory of the Allies in WWII. A new global order was being established, which gave the United States the opportunity to implement an international standard of human rights, birthing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Second Bill of Rights.
In his January 11, 1944 message to the Congress on the State of the Union, Roosevelt said
“It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.
This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.
We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.”[8] People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.
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The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
Among these are:
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The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
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The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
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The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
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The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
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The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.
America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.
Excerpted from wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bill_of_Rights
Thanks to the WIP staff for reminding us of some of the history of Workers Bill of Rights…