Labor Day : Richard Trumka

One Nation formed to unite progressives; Oct. 2 March

One Nation Formed to Bring Back the American Dream

Posted By James Parks On August 5, 2010 

Working people are frustrated and angered ^[1] by the inability of lawmakers to stop the massive loss of jobs and decline in living standards, while Republicans—and some Democrats—freely hand over the economy to corporations that are growing richer and more powerful each day.
To help renew the American Dream for everyone, some 170 progressive groups, including the AFL-CIO, NAACP ^[2], National Council of La Raza ^[3] and many affiliated unions, have come together in One Nation ^[4].      
One Nation is a multi-racial, civil and human rights movement whose mission is to reorder our nation’s priorities to invest in our nation’s most valuable resource—our people. One Nation is holding an Oct. 2 rally at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. with tens of thousands of activists taking part. They will then return to their neighborhoods, congregations, schools and, especially, voting booths, fired up with new energy to take back the country.
On the same day, the union movement will walk door-to-door in targeted states around the country, mobilizing union members exactly one month before the fall elections.

During its Aug. 4-5 meeting in Washington, D.C., the AFL-CIO Executive Council issued a statement ^[5] supporting One Nation and saying we must fight the fear mongering and scapegoating that is dividing our country.

We have to fight this hateful demagoguery that only benefits our foes, and we can’t do it alone. History has taught us that the best way to fight the forces of hatred is to address the economic policies that led to our economic suffering, and that our fight must draw its strength from an alliance of the poor and the middle class—everyone who works for a living. 

Speaking at Harvard University this past April, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka ^[1] warned that massive unemployment and growing inequality threaten our democracy. Saying “the stakes couldn’t be any higher,” Trumka told the mostly student audience:

If you care about defending our country against the apostles of hate, you need to be part of the fight to rebuild a sustainable, high wage economy built on good jobs—the kind of economy that can only exist when working men and women have a real voice on the job

The organizations that form One Nation support the union movement’s agenda of an economy that works for all; good jobs, fair jobs, safe jobs, and more jobs; reforming Wall Street; repairing our immigration system; quality education for every child; and ensuring that everyone in America has the opportunity to contribute to and strengthen our country, according to the statement:
The Council statement also issues a rallying cry to workers:

Working people can make a difference when we rely on ourselves and act collectively. We are America. And together we can make our voices heard.  

Read the Council statement “One Nation Working Together” here ^[5].

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Article printed from AFL-CIO NOW BLOG: http://blog.aflcio.org

URL to article: http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/08/05/one-nation-formed-to-bring-back-the-american-dream/

Trumka describes issues of working people- and a vision for change

Trumka  Presents  VISION FOR LABOR'S FUTURE

Newly elected AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka discussed the state of the economy and its impact on families, as well as some of the proposed legislation that could impact the labor movement. Speaking at the Nat'l Press Club, the leader of the nation’s largest labor union will join other labor leaders to discuss health reform with Pres. Obama later today.

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/291173-1

Trumka: Senate Health Care bill must change

The health care bill being considered by the U.S. Senate is inadequate and too tilted toward the insurance industry, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said today.
In recent days, as the Senate has debated health care reform, small numbers of senators have held health care hostage by threatening to block a vote. The new proposal by the Senate puts the interests of insurance companies—and senators who would rather look out for the insurance companies—ahead of real reform.
Trumka said the top priority now is to fight over the rest of the legislative process to fix the bill and make sure we can pass real health care reform:

The labor movement has been fighting for health care for nearly 100 years and we are not about to stop fighting now, when it really matters. But for this health care bill to be worthy of the support of working men and women, substantial changes must be made. The AFL-CIO intends to fight on behalf of all working families to make those changes and win health care reform that is deserving of the name.

The absolute refusal of Republicans in the Senate to support health care reform and the hijacking of the bill by defenders of the insurance industry have brought us a Senate bill that is inadequate: It is too kind to the insurance industry.

Genuine health care reform must bring down health costs, hold insurance companies accountable, assure that Americans can get the health care they need and be financed fairly.

While the Senate’s bill makes a lot of important and necessary changes to our health care system, it falls short in three key areas, Trumka says.

• It lacks a public health insurance option, to offer real competition to insurance companies to bring down costs.
• It fails to make sure employers take responsibility and pay their fair share.
• It’s funded through a new tax on working families’ health care benefits.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The bill passed by the U.S. House is far better than the Senate’s bill on these and other measures. The House bill finances health care through a small tax on the very wealthiest of earners—those who reaped vast benefits from the Bush tax cuts—and it includes a public health insurance plan and real responsibility for employers. Trumka says:

The House bill is the model for genuine health care reform. Working people cannot accept anything less than real reform.

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Article printed from AFL-CIO NOW BLOG: http://blog.aflcio.org
URL to article: http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/12/17/trumka-senate-health-care-bill-must-change-to-be-real-reform/

Trumka: Showdown in Chicago

Campaign for America's Future

I'm going to Chicago next week for the American Bankers
Association meeting. Oddly, I haven't been invited to
the Roaring '20's dance party I hear they're having.

Why wouldn't they celebrate the era of wild money and
hot times (which slid into the Great Depression)? After
all, the bankers are doing well these days.

They're doing well because after financial institutions
caused the global economic crisis, we bailed them out,
to the tune of some $700 billion.

Now they're in good enough shape to pay the suits $7
billion in bonuses for driving working families and our
economy to our knees--to the verge of a second full-
fledged depression.

Things might be turning around for the bankers, but for
the rest of us, unemployment heads toward 10 percent and
home foreclosures continue to devastate families and
communities. Working families have lost health care,
pensions and savings--and in exchange we've gotten
predatory lending, outrageous overdraft fees and sky-
high credit card interest rates.


Meanwhile, the bankers are doing the Charleston, taking
taxpayer money, handing out bonuses for disastrous
failure, becoming profitable without lending money that
could put people back to work--and spending billions
lobbying Congress to kill financial reform.

Shameless. Absolutely shameless.

On Tuesday, about 5,000 of us will be in Chicago to tell
them what we think.

It's called the Showdown in Chicago. We're gathering
outside the American Bankers Association meeting to
demand financial reform and re-regulation that will
allow us to rebuild our communities, our lives and the
real economy.

We've got a lot to rebuild.

For decades, these bankers have been dealing to each
other in what amounts to their own private casino,
inventing more and more exotic financial vehicles
together and basically regulating themselves. Their Wild
West capitalism allowed them to take outsized risk with
no oversight and then come hat in hand to the American
taxpayers when their house of cards collapsed.

They've become a menace. No one is safe while their
private casino bankrupts the real economy and ignores
necessary investments in jobs, health care and
retirement without oversight or regulation.

This is a complicated topic, but we can break down a
plan for reform into four basic needs:

  1. The Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA)
  that President Obama has proposed. This agency would
  protect the public against credit card and mortgage
  rip-offs. The agencies that were supposed to protect
  us from financial meltdown failed. The CFPA would
  place consumer protection authority in the hands of a
  single agency that would monitor banks and other
  institutions and their credit products like mortgages
  and credit cards--but not your butcher, as a
  ridiculous over-the-top ad by the U.S. Chamber of
  Commerce claimed.

  2. A council of regulators to identify and fix
  systemic risks that could threaten the entire
  financial system--risks such as institutions becoming
  "too big to fail," too complex  or too interconnected.
  When the government intervenes, the purpose
  has to be to protect the public, not just rescue
  executives and rich investors. The past year has
  proven that the Federal Reserve Board is just too
  close to the banks. We need either to
  reform and democratize the Fed or to give this
  job to a true public agency. Let's do it right.

  3. Bring the "shadow markets" into the daylight. Most
  people probably don't really know what hedge funds,
  private equity funds and derivatives are or do.
  You're not supposed to--it makes them easy to
  manipulate. They've been unregulated and totally
  lacking in transparency. These vehicles need serious
  regulation and oversight before they suck more money
  into the black hole of convoluted transactions.

  4. Reform corporate governance and CEO compensation
  to protect the interests of long-term investors--people
  saving for retirement, not speculating.

It's time we hold banks and other financial institutions
accountable for making this mess that required trillions
of our dollars to clean up.

It's time to hold them accountable for the pain they've
inflicted on working families.

It's time to put them back to work for working people,
supporting families and jobs.

I've been spending a lot of time on Capitol Hill,
calling for reform in meetings with committee chairs and
other members of Congress. And everywhere I go,
financial industry lobbyists are there, pushing back all
out to block reform.

Congress is deciding right now how it will shape
financial reform--we need congressional support and
intense presidential leadership.

Call your members of Congress. They're sure hearing from
front groups for the banks. They need to hear from you,
too. Tell them to produce a financial system that isn't
set up to reward big banks at the expense of everyone
else. The money has to start flowing to regular people
and businesses that can create jobs.

And if you're in Chicago on Tuesday, join me. We'll meet
up at 10:30 a.m. at Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue to
march to the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers where the
bankers are meeting.

See you at the Showdown

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