Proposed workers amendment to US Constitution

Dave Searles proposed U.S. Constitution amendment text:

"Section 1. Exclusion of the workers from collective ownership and
control of the means of production and distribution shall not exist
within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2. The workers have a right to organize into industrial
unions which shall control and operate the means of production and
distribution and allocate the products of labor as the workers at all
times democratically determine.

Section 3. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation."

Sections one and three are modeled on the U.S. Constitution's 13th
amendment.

Section one is a statement of abolition of the legal conditions
which keep workers from controlling the means of production and
distribution. Section one dismantles the legal basis of this "new and
improved" form of slavery.

Section two would provide constitutional jurisdiction for democratic
industrial unions to exercise control over the means of production,
much as the current constitution carves out the scope of the
authority of federal and state governments. Under the amendment
there would be one more locus of authority -
unions of industrial workers exercising collective control of the
industrial means of production and distribution.

Section three would empower congress to legislate to enforce the
principle of collective worker control of the industries

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future