lvc@cbsck.UUCP (Larry Cipriani) (11/02/84)
Topics: Unions and Collective Bargaining Discrimination Womens Rights Childrens Rights 17. Unions and Collective Bargaining We support the right of free persons to voluntarily establish, associate in, or not associate in, labor union. An employer should have the right to recognize, or refuse to recognize, a union as the collective bargaining agent of some or all of his or her workers. We oppose government interference in bargaining, such as compulsory arbitration or imposing an obligation to bargain. Therefore we urge repeal of the National Labor Relation Act, and all the state Right to Work Laws, which prohibit employers from making voluntary contracts with unions. We oppose all government back-to-work orders as imposing a form of forced labor. Workers and employers should have the right to organize secondary boycotts if they so choose. Nevertheless, boycotts or strikes do not justify the initiation of violence against other workers, employers, strike-breakers, and innocent bystanders. 18. Immigration We hold that human rights should not be denied or abridged on the basis of nationality. We condemn massive roundups of Hispanic Americans and other by the federal government in its hunt for individuals not possessing required government documents. We strongly oppose all measures that would punish employers who hire undocumented workers. Such measures repress enterprise, harass workers, and systematically discourage employers from hiring Hispanics. Undocumented non-citizes should not be denied the fundamental freedom to labor and to move about unmolested. Furthermore, immigration must not be restricted for reasons of race, religious or political creed, age, or sexual preference. We therefor call for the elimination of all restrictions on immigration, the abolition of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Border Patrol, and a declaration of full amnesty for all people who have entered the country illegally. We oppose government welfare payments to non-citizens just as we oppose government welfare payments to all other persons. Because we support the right of workers to cross borders without harassment, we oppose all government-mandated "temporary worker" plans. Specifically, we condemn attempts to revive the Bracero Program as government imposition of second-class status on Mexican-born workers. We welcome all refugees to out shores and condemn the efforts of U.S. officials to create a "Berlin Wall" which would keep them captive. We condemn the U.S. government's policy of barring those refugees from our shores and preventing Americans from assisting their passage to help them escape tyranny or improve their economic prospects. 19. Discrimination No individual rights should be denied or abridged by the laws of the United States or any state or locality on account of sex, race, color, creed, age, national origin, or sexual preference. Protective labor laws, Selective Service laws, and other laws that violate rights selectively should be repealed entirely rather than being extended to all groups. Discrimination imposed by the government has brought disruption in normal relationships of peoples, set neighbor against neighbor, created gross injustices, and diminished human potential. Anti-discrimination enforced by the government is the reverse side of the same coin and will for the same reasons create the same problems. Consequently, we oppose any governmental attempts to regulate private discrimination, including discrimination in employment, housing, and privately owned so-called public accommodations. The right to trade include the right not to trade -- for any reasons whatsoever. 20. Women's Rights We hold that individual rights should not be denied or abridged on the basis of sex. We call for repeal of all laws discriminating against women, such as "protective" labor laws and marriage or divorce laws which deny the full rights of men and women. We oppose all laws likely to impose restrictions on free choice and private property or to widen tyranny through reverse discrimination. Recognizing that each person must be the sole and absolute owner of his or her own body, we support the right of women to make a personal choice regarding the termination of pregnancy. We oppose the undermining of that right via laws requiring consent of the pregnant woman's parents, consent of the prospective father, waiting periods, or compulsory provision of indoctrination on medical risks or fetal development. However, we also oppose all tax funding for abortions. It is particularly harsh to force someone who believes that abortion is murder to pay for another's abortion. We also condemn state-mandated abortions. 21. Children's Rights Children are human beings and, as such, have all the rights of human beings. We oppose all laws that empower government officials to seize children and make them "wards of the state" or, by means of child labor laws and compulsory education, to infringe on their freedom to work or learn as they choose. We oppose all legally created or sanctioned discrimination directed at any other artificially defined sub-category of human beings. Specifically we oppose ordinances that outlaw adults-only apartments. We also support the repeal of all laws establishing any category of crimes applicable to children for which adults would not be similarly answerable such as curfew, smoking, and alcoholic beverage laws, and other status offenses. Similarly, we favor the repeal of "stubborn child" laws and laws establishing the category of "persons in need of supervision". We call for an end to the practice in many states of jailing children not accused of any crime. We seek the repeal of all "children's codes" of statutes which abridge due process protections for young people. We further favor the abolition of the juvenile court system, so that juveniles will be held fully responsible for their crimes. Whenever parents or other guardians are unable or unwilling to care for their children, those guardians have the right to seek other persons who are willing to assume guardianship, and children have the right to seek other guardians who place a higher value on their lives. Accordingly, we oppose all laws that impede these processes, notably those restricting private adoption services or those forcing children to remain in the custody of their parents against their will. Children should always have the right to establish their maturity by assuming the administration and protection of their own rights, ending dependency upon their parents or other guardians and assuming all the responsibilities of adulthood.