Launched in 1998, the Working Families Party is a grassroots political party rooted in the labor movement. The goal of the WFP is to more forcefully inject the issues of the working- and middle-class (such as jobs, education, corporate accountability and progressive taxation) into the public debate, and to hold candidates and elected officials accountable on those issues. Our organizing strategy is to start local, think long-term, combine campaign work with organizing and education, and to not waste our members' votes on candidates with no chance of winning.
Our effectiveness as a field operation is unmatched. We have been instrumental in raising the state's minimum wage, securing living wage laws throughout New York City and the surrounding counties, passing landmark Green Jobs legislation, and initiating a more progressive tax structure—not to mention getting dozens of progressive candidates and labor-friendly politicians elected to office throughout the state.
Recently, WFP has campaigned on several of our core values. The first is clean and fair elections—with the very future of democracy at stake, politicians need to be reminded that they work for the people, not the special interest groups funding their campaigns. The only way to ensure politicians are accountable to voters is to kick the big-money crowd out of politics. That's why the WFP is calling for full disclosure of campaign contributions and public financing of elections, two bold ideas designed to radically level the playing field between working families and powerful corporate interests. Simultaneously, we are fighting to restore "home rule" to New York City by repealing vacancy decontrol. The affordable housing crisis in New York City has pushed thousands of working families out of the city they love, but can no longer afford. Part of the problem is that NYC rent laws are controlled by politicians in Albany, who give legislators from Rochester and Buffalo as much a say as those from Brooklyn or the Bronx. The crisis is worsened by a rent-law loophole known as vacancy decontrol, which permits landlords to 'deregulate' otherwise rent-stabilized apartments when tenants move out—often doubling and even tripling the previous rent price. We have also recently called for a tax on bank bonuses. The money being handed out to those Wall Street executives came from the public, and it ought to go back to the public. We can use the much needed revenue to stop drastic funding cuts to schools and hospitals.
The Working Families Party is not about cynicism; we're about taking action. Together we have the power to take back our country from politics-as-usual, and empower the citizens of this great nation to finally make government work for working people.
