We are now less than one month away from the 2026 midterm elections. The campaign issues have mostly been about affordability, the war against Iran, Trump’s tariff policies, and corruption. Democratic candidates have focused their attention on Trump’s policies and what they would do to reverse them or blunt their impact.
Despite his pro-worker rhetoric, Donald Trump has been the most anti-worker president in recent American history. If Democrats regain control of the House and/or the Senate, they will investigate a series of decisions by the Trump administration and will try to enact bills to return this country to economic and moral sanity. However, Democrats need to do more than just oppose Trump. They need to enact legislation that will advance the interests of the American people. That is particularly true for labor and employment law.
Here are a few of the bills that Democrats should pass to truly help American workers:
- Increase the minimum wage. The most important issue in this election is affordability. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has not changed since 2009. The Consumer Product Index has increased by more than 50% since then. Some prices, for health care, housing, and beef, have increased even more. According to MIT’s Living Wage calculator, the wages needed to provide for a worker’s basic needs is between $20.69 per hour in Mississippi and $30.48 per hour in California. Congress needs to enact the Raise the Wage Act or similar legislation.
- Enact pro-labor legislation. The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would end many companies’ practice of classifying employees as independent contractors; would override state “right to work” laws; would impose meaningful penalties on companies that fire workers who are trying to organize; and would streamline union elections and initial contracts with employers.
- Make health care more affordable. Trump’s Big Ugly Bill has caused and will cause millions of Americans to lose their health-care insurance. Congress should enact the Health Care Affordability Act, the Medicare for All Act, or similar legislation to deal with this affordability crisis.
- Require paid family leave. The United States is the only advanced industrialized country that does not require employers to provide paid family leave for childbirth, for the care of a new infant, or for a serious health condition. This would be required if the FAMILY Act were enacted.
- Require paid sick leave. Similarly, the Healthy Families Act would require employers to provide paid sick leave when needed because of the physical or mental health of an employee or to care for a child, parent or spouse. All too often, employees must work while they are physically ill, even if those employees deal with the public and are suffering from contagious illnesses.
- Raise the damage caps in discrimination cases. The amount of compensatory and punitive damages available in Title VII employment and in disability discrimination cases are capped, based on the size of the employer. Those caps have not been changed in 35 years, since 1991. The Equal Remedies Act would remove this artificial limit on those damage awards.
- Ban forced arbitration of individual employment disputes. The Supreme Court has allowed employers to require employees to submit employment disputes to mandatory binding arbitration. Employees are deprived of the right to a jury trial, and they must pay to have their cases decided by an arbitrator. The FAIR Act would prohibit companies from requiring arbitration for employment and consumer disputes, while still allowing employers and unions to use arbitration to resolve contractual issues.
- Require equal pay for equal work. The Paycheck Fairness Act would require that any differential in wages paid to women and men be based on education, training or experience. It would also prohibit employers from restricting the information that workers share about the wages or salary they earn.
- Improve protections for agricultural employees. Since its enactment in 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has exempted virtually all agricultural workers and live-in domestic workers from overtime pay protections. Agricultural workers were and are predominately Black and Hispanic, and live-in domestic workers are almost all female. Congress should enact the Fairness for Farm Workers Act and the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act to deal with these and other issues for these employees.
We recognize that Democrats in Congress, even if they win this year’s midterm elections, will not be able to pass these or other bills in 2027 or 2028. Pres. Trump will be able to veto any progressive legislation they may pass. However, they can hold hearings and can build the political momentum for 2029, when a new Democratic president can sign these bills into law.
Learn more about the legislation supported by the Stand Up For Workers Action Fund here.
Written By Barry Roseman, SU4W Board Member
