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Trumka: ‘We’re Going to Rebuild America With Jobs’
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In the political showdown between Wall Street and Main Street, California is a key battleground. With the third highest jobless rate in the country and a towering budget deficit, California needs leaders who can create and save jobs, not just spout ”more of the same corporate bull,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told a crowd of thousands at a mass jobs rally in Los Angeles today.
“How are we going to rebuild America? With jobs! Who’s going to rebuild America? Working people with jobs!”
The choice for voters is clear in California, said Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation. The Republican candidates for governor and U.S. senator, respectively, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, are mirror images of each other.
Both are failed CEOs. Both slashed thousands of jobs to make themselves richer. And both have a dangerous agenda that will douse any hope for economic recovery. They want to slash jobs. Eliminate pensions. Scale back overtime pay and meal breaks for workers. They’re part of the greed is good crowd. I think it’s pretty clear that’s the wrong direction.
It is crazy that Wall Street would destroy our economy and rob us of millions of jobs, Trumka said, and the Republican response is: “Great! How about more of the same?”
We’re done with that kind of deal for America.
Delegates to the Letter Carriers (NALC) convention, meeting in nearby Anaheim, joined the rally along with union members from the building trades, public employees and other trades to send a strong message: “Paychecks Pay the Bills.”
Participants carried signs highlighting the need for jobs as the top answer to the economic crisis and to push for the 30/10 Initiative to build 30 year’s worth of mass transit in the next 10 years.
They also called for the U.S. Postal Service to continue six-day mail delivery and keep thousands of postal jobs and for more money for public safety, schools, mass transit and health care.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D), NALC President Fredric Rolando, Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and community and labor leaders also spoke at the rally in front of city hall.
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10 Comments
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No Mr. Trumka, there will be fewer jobs every day unless there is pressure from Labor to stop all lay-offs and sending jobs overseas with companies receiving any kind of govt subsidy and/or is publicly traded on the stock market.
This means Labor (AFL-CIO) must go on the OFFENSIVE and not play wait-and-see what’s coming down the pipe. You will not stop the flow of blood of lost jobs playing defense!! There must be consequences for both the Obama administration and the Democratic Party if they don’t stop the loss of jobs.
Case in point, WELLPOINT has the federal contract to run Medicare and is the parent-profiteer for Blue Cross, Anthem, etc. They are now in the process of sending their jobs overseas. THIS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED even if it takes a General Strike to stop!!
http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/08/13/health-care-ceos-pocket-big-bucks-still-fight-real-reform/
Wellpoint stock chart…
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=WLP+Interactive#chart1:symbol=wlp;range=my;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined
We are ready to fight in what ever mannor it takes, we will not become servants to the rich!
You wrote: “Delegates to the Letter Carriers (NALC) convention, meeting in nearby Anaheim, joined the rally along with union members from the building trades, public employees and other trades to send a strong message: ‘Paychecks Pay the Bills.’”
There were about 3,500 NALC delegates present — easily the largest group there. The way you worded it, it comes across as, “Oh, yeah, incidentally some letter carriers showed up.”
All talk and no action.
There is no effort to pass a bill that would penalize China for its currency manipulation.
There is no effort to protest those companies that offshore outsource good paying jobs.
There is no effort to encourage people to buy made in USA.
This will accomplish nothing.
I couldn’t agree with Sea Star more. It is not only the fault of the Republicans that we find ourselves in this crisis but the Democrats are arguing that we have to compete with the wages of our fellow workers in China and therefore should accept cuts to our already diminished wages. The union leadership has so demoralized workers that they are now proceeding to negotiations with the idea that we should continue to take concessions and if that were not bad enough we should think that concessions are a good thing. If you notice in the article there is no plan or program offered by Tumpka to win jobs. All there is is a bunch of rhetoric about the fact that we need them. This will not cut it and no one is fooled. The union tops are complicit with the bosses because they do not want to jeopardize their own positions which will undermine their very lucrative paychecks. We do indeed need a general strike and because we are millions and millions strong we can begin to make inroads in that direction. And while Karl Marx talked about history as first time tragedy second time farce, I think that right now we are suffering in tragic proportions and we can expect that things will get worse.
So the union leadership that we have now must be forced to step down and we need to replace them with a leadership that will unite the working class in the streets not just pay lip service to the growing crisis.
It’s great to hear thousands turned out to show their solidarity for the need for jobs, and candidates that can move that agenda forward. What bothers me most is that I didn’t hear this in the news, only by my email subscription. Yet the national news flooded us with 400 tea party protesters in the desert this weekend. No wonder there is so much apathy, the news seems to be affected by the advertisers, the companies we work for. As a result labor is being ignored by the media. It’s up to us I guess to get the message out, because the corporate controlled media seems to be ignoring events much larger than the tea party’s.
http://laborcartoonzone.blogspot.com/
JoeyConway,
Brother our flight prevented my Branch from attending. We were there in sprit. The article could have given us a little more love, but the important thing is you were there. We’ll keep up the struggled till working people received what they have earned.
NALC RULES1
Brothers& Sisters: Although many were not around in the early 1980′s. If we did not cross PATCO’S picket line, President Regan couldn’t break that union & things might have been different today! Solidarity is what its all about!
Reading the above comments confirms that all of us rank and file union members are falling right into the trap that Corporate America has been setting and continuously updating for the last 30+ years. It is clear they are making headway in dividing and conquering. The Democrat Party may not be the party we want it to be but its the best we have until we unite nationally and only support progressive candidates with our people and money.
Everyone needs to get a copy of a New York Times Bestseller titled “don’t think of an elephant” by George Lakoff. This book clearly lays out how the radical right with people like Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist, Newt Gingrich and Frank Luntz have over the last 30+ years realized Language matters and how that language is framed matters even more. Lakoffs insights not only send a chill of recognition through. More importantly, he shows us the way out of the morass. Americans who want to set the agenda need to be quick, and must understand the use of language. Agenda settersalso need to be unapologetic and unafraid.
We need Jobs badly I’ve worked seven weeks then got laid off. Now i have re-applying for unemployment insurance and that means receiving four times less than i made on the job. And my wife who handles finnaces is frusted that she can’t pay the bills and that puts astrain on on our marriage. We want full Employment. Not nuts and berries. Our dedts are over $14,000. Not including my wifes MedicAL BILLS TOTALING $200,000.