Union Movement Set to Lead in Transforming the American Economy

by Laura Clawson, Aug 27, 2008

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka and Rep. Donna Edwards were among panelists at an AFL-CIO Economic Forum at the Democratic National Convention.

The AFL-CIO joined forces with The American Prospect at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week for an economic forum, “All Boats Rising: Transforming the American Economy.” AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka joined Paul Krugman, Robert Kuttner, Bennett College President Julianne Malveaux, Sens. Sherrod Brown and Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Donna Edwards in a discussion moderated by Ezra Klein and Harold Meyerson, both of The American Prospect.

The wide-ranging discussion touched on student loan debt, gas prices, trade agreements and other topics and consistently engaged both the immediate need for economic fixes and the long-term need to go beyond crisis thinking and change the balance of power between employers and working people in the United States.

As Trumka forcefully stated:

We focus on the effect of things rather than the root causes…we have to be able to get past the immediate crisis in order to get to the roots of the problem.

Panelists stressed the importance of the union movement in producing this ongoing change, with Brown pointing to an encouraging trend: Only 60 percent of Democrats in Congress, he said, voted “No” on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). A dozen years later, 93 percent of Democrats voted “No” on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), so there has been movement in a progressive direction. To achieve that kind of shift, he said,

We need you between elections almost as much as we do during elections.

Trumka affirmed the same point:

We understand that Nov. 4 isn’t the end of the game. Nov. 4 is when the game starts.

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