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File #: 2012-0727    Version: 1
Type: Will of Council Status: Adopted
File created: 9/11/2012 In control: City Council
On agenda: Final action: 9/11/2012
Enactment date: 9/11/2012 Enactment #: 523
Effective date:    
Title: NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh, on behalf of We the People, want to strengthen our nation as a beacon of equality, economic opportunity and freedom for all. We hold these rights to be essential to our vision of America and believe that the principles contained therein should guide our government, business leaders, organizations and individuals in our common goal of a just and fair society, and hereby endorse the labor unions' call for a Second Bill of Rights; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Will of Council shall be conveyed to United States President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Senators Bob Casey and Patrick Toomey, Congressman Mike Doyle, State Senators and State Representatives of Allegheny County, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
Sponsors: Darlene M. Harris, All Members
Indexes: PROCLAMATION - MRS. HARRIS
Attachments: 1. 2012-0727.doc
Body
WHEREAS, all Americans willing and able to work have the right to safe, gainful employment at a fair and livable wage. We call on the public and private sectors to invest in America's infrastructure and promote industrial development, maintaining job creation as a top policy priority.

WHEREAS, recent initiatives to disenfranchise citizens seek to reduce the rolls of eligible voters and empower money instead of people. We believe these actions constitute an assault on our nation's democracy and history of heroic struggle against voting restrictions based upon property ownership, religion, race and gender and call for reinforcing our fundamental right to vote.

WHEREAS, all workers have the right of freedom of association in the workplace, including the right to collectively bargain with their employer to improve wages, benefits and working conditions.

WHEREAS, education is a fundamental bedrock of our democracy, vital to America's competitive position in the world and the principal means by which citizens empower themselves to participate in our nation's economic and political systems. Quality, affordable education should be universally available from pre-kindergarten to college level, including an expanded use of apprenticeships and specialty skills training to prepare Americans for the workplace.

WHEREAS, Americans have the right to a baseline level of health care, unemployment insurance and retirement security, all of which have been badly eroded by the disruption of the social compact that served the nation well for decades. We call on government and private industry together to confront the issues of declining access to health care especially for children, weakening of unemployment coverage, and inadequate pension plans that undermine the ability of working men and women to retire in dignity, even as Social Security and Medicare are under strain and threatened with cutbacks.
Title
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the Cit...

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