Highlights from ‘Building the New Economy’
Last week, leaders from labor, business and politics came together in Washington, D.C., at the Building the New Economy conference, sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing and the Campaign for America’s Future. A new video shows some highlights from the conference and discussions on the need to rebuild manufacturing in order to strengthen our economy.
Here’s what AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka had to say in his address to the conference:
Our goal must be to develop the best technology and industries that will convert our economy into a greener future, fueled by good jobs right here in America.
The one good thing about the economic collapse is that it lets us—quite frankly, it requires us—to think big.
You can see more comments here from conference attendees like Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Gov. Ed Rendell (D-Penn.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.).
Manufacturing Crucial for Building New Economy
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Over the next decade, America is poised to invest $2 trillion in infrastructure, health care and a greener economy, but that money must be invested strategically to build a new economy, not just retool the current model, which is not working.
Speaking this morning at the Building the New Economy conference in Washington, D.C., AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the global economic collapse requires us to think of long-term strategies to rebuild and restructure our economy, with a revitalized manufacturing sector at its core.
The one-day conference, sponsored by the Institute for America’s Future and the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), is bringing together political, business, environmental and union leaders and economists to discuss the fundamental changes needed to create an economy that provides sustainable long-term growth and creates across-the-board prosperity.
Bad Climate Change Bill Could Cost 4 Million U.S. Jobs
Industries supporting more than 4 million U.S. jobs could be at risk unless lawmakers include strong provisions in climate change legislation to keep energy-intensive, trade-sensitive manufacturers competitive.
A new report says the legislation should include a system of rebates and allowances to help U.S. companies make the transition to lower carbon emissions and a tariff system, or border adjustments, to penalize countries that fail to regulate greenhouse gases in the production of goods.
The report, “Climate Change Policy,” released today by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), says a well-designed climate policy can support the economic recovery and green investments can support millions of new jobs, starting with the creation of more than 1 million jobs in the next two years. Click here to read the report.
Obama’s New Trade Enforcement Measures a Welcome First Step
The Obama administration unveiled new trade enforcement measures aimed at saving jobs and creating new jobs in the United States by leveling the global playing field for American workers and businesses.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, speaking today at a U.S. Steel plant in Braddock, Pa., near Pittsburgh, said the administration is committed to better enforcement of America’s trade laws, including workers’ rights around the world.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney praised the commitment to better oversight and enforcement of trade laws.
This is a welcome and long-overdue initiative, and we look forward to working with USTR, Commerce and Labor, among others, to identify and address unfair trade practices that disadvantage domestic producers and workers.
We hope this is only a first installment in President Obama’s pledge to reform our flawed trade policies, however. Enforcement is crucial, but we also need to revisit and strengthen our trade policies and trade laws if we are to rebuild our economy with a vibrant and thriving manufacturing sector.
Manufacturing a Better Future for America
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The United States cannot revive its economy without first rebuilding the nation’s manufacturing base, several experts say. While most of us understand how devastating the loss of a plant can be to a community and to the economy, policymakers don’t get it, they add.
During a roundtable discussion yesterday in Washington, D.C., several contributors to a new book, Manufacturing a Better Future for America, spelled out the case for a bold new U.S. industrial policy.
Simply put: For nearly 300 years, the United States invested in producing goods and, as a result, became the richest nation in history. But for the past few decades, policymakers have systematically dismantled our manufacturing base through bad tax policies and short-sighted trade agreements that encourage consumption of cheap foreign imports and provide incentives for U.S.-based companies to export jobs.
Keep It Made in America: Our Future Depends On It
The pundits and politicians inside the Washington Beltway don’t get: If the United States continues to send its manufacturing jobs overseas—as General Motors and Chrysler are now proposing—the result will be more low-income U.S. families.
So today, workers, economists, academics and business and union leaders, fresh from the “Keep It Made in America” bus tour through the nation’s heartland, brought that message to the policymakers’ doorstep as part of a teach-in on Capitol Hill.
The 11-day, 34-city bus tour showcased the ripple effect on communities of the lost jobs in manufacturing. (See video.) Today, during the teach-in, those who took part brought the stories they heard along the tour and presented principles for revitalizing the auto industry to members of Congress and the press.
Report: China’s Lax Environmental Laws Cost Jobs and Lives
The long list of China’s unfair trade advantages and human rights violations already includes currency manipulation, failure to enforce workers’ rights and a general disrespect for human rights. Now, add global pollution to the list. A new report reveals that China is among the world’s leading polluters and putting the brakes on global warming can not be achieved unless the administration and Congress hold China accountable for its reckless environmental practices.
The report, An Assessment of Environmental Regulation of the Steel Industry in China, was released today by the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), a nonpartisan, nonprofit partnership of several leading U.S. manufacturers and the United Steelworkers (USW). The report focuses on China’s rapidly growing steel industry and documents China’s ineffective enforcement of weak pollution-control standards, its failure to use adequate pollution-prevention measures, and the resulting high levels of pollution.
