Shuler in Pennsylvania: We Must Inspire Next Generation

by Seth Michaels, Oct 21, 2009

Speaking at last night’s annual dinner of the Southeastern Area Labor Federation of Pennsylvanian, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler told the state’s union members we must get energized and active so that we can address the needs of a generation of young workers left behind by an economy that isn’t working:

We need to reach out to millions of unorganized workers who just don’t see us as the answer to their problems. To tell you the truth, they don’t see us at all. Above all, that means young workers in their 20s and 30s….They don’t have a connection to the union movement….No wonder young workers don’t realize what we have to offer them.

Shuler, who has been traveling nearly non-stop since becoming the youngest person ever elected as a top AFL-CIO officer last month, cited the AFL-CIO report “Young Workers: A Lost Decade,” which found that workers under age 35 have been hit especially hard by the economic crisis. The economic hardship damages their earning power now and well into the future.

We have to re-envision the labor movement so it does more for the needs of these workers—of whom 31 percent don’t have health coverage at work, more than half don’t have a retirement plan at work and one-third still live at home with their parents. We can’t just adjust to a broken economy, Shuler said. We need to focus on building a strong future for these young workers so they aren’t the first generation in our history to be worse off than their parents.

There’s one thing we have to get right, and that is to give the next generation hope—fight for them—embrace them—and welcome them into our movement. Our job is to make this movement exactly what it should be, which is a place where they know they belong, where they’re excited about what’s coming up next, and where they’ll build a lot better life than what they’re stuck in right now. That’s how our movement can grow. I hope you make it your personal mission, like I have.

Shuler also discussed the 2010 elections, saying that southeastern Pennsylvania will be critical in the race for governor, for U.S. Senate, for two open U.S. House seats in the 6th and 7th districts and for state legislative and local offices. She also said we need to keep the pressure on our elected officials so they do the right thing on health care and protecting workers’ freedom to choose a union.

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