Palin's positions

In her career as mayor and governor, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has taken few public positions on major national issues of concern to working people. Here's what we know, based on the available record:

Retirement security

When Palin became mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, in 1996, the city's pension plan for public employees was fully funded. When she left six years later, it was only 73 percent funded. As governor, she proposed a $42 million reduction in the general fund for state employee pensions.

Health care

Palin has stated that health care should be "market driven" and called for "flexibility in government regulations." She has no public position on how to address the needs of 47 million uninsured, how to protect consumers and how to keep health care affordable for working families.

Trade and jobs

There are no public statements by Palin on NAFTA, CAFTA, Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China or other agreements which have helped send millions of good-paying U.S. jobs overseas.

Workers' rights

Palin has made no public statements on national labor issues, but her record shows her to be a pretty tough boss. As mayor of Wasilla, she fired the city's police chief and the long-serving city administrator. She also took action to fire the city's librarian, but changed her mind a few days later. As governor, she fired Alaska's public safety director, an action which is currently under investigation by Alaska legislators.
Palin, whose husband is a member of the Steelworkers union, has not taken a public position on the Employee Free Choice Act, a top legislative priority for working families.

Delegates to the Republican National Convention who nominated Palin for vice president, however, also approved a platform which criticizes "union bosses" and states that "we oppose card-check legislation ... because it exposes workers to intimidation by union organizers."

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