Labor Day: Recommit to Full Employment
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By Rev. Jim Sessions
The Rev. Jim Sessions is the president of the Working America Education Fund and is former director of the AFL-CIO Union Community Fund. He reminds us of the need for the union movement and religious communities to recommit to the joint fight for justice.
The labor movement is the largest and most powerful economic justice organization in the world. From its beginning, the union movement and some parts of the religious community have worked together to help bring justice to our society. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1909 recognized this connection by designating the Sunday before Labor Day as Labor Sunday, a day dedicated to the spiritual and educational dimensions of the labor movement.
Labor organizers have often drawn from the deep wells of religious imagery to lead struggles for economic justice. As scholar and author Perry Bush points out, “They have been able to do so because a great mass of U.S. workers have held religious convictions that were not easily stripped away or transmuted into mindless obeisance to the power of the wealthy.”
Without Job Creation Action, Job Levels Stagnant for Years
Even if the economy begins creating jobs at the fastest pace of job growth during the early 2000s, employment levels won’t reach December 2007 levels—when the Bush recession began destroying nearly 11 million jobs—until 2014.
But even with that rate of job creation, according to a new report, because of the growth in the workforce, the unemployment rate will not fall back to pre-recession levels until 2021. A Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) report, “The Urgent Need for Job Creation,” shows the desperate need for government action on job creation:
Many lawmakers, policymakers and economic commentators do not appear to recognize the depth of the current labor-market recession.
Bill in Congress Would Save or Create Nearly 1 Million Local, Education Jobs
If the Local Jobs for America Act (H.R. 4812) becomes law, it will create or save more than 675,000 local community jobs and more than 250,000 education jobs, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee.
In a letter from the coalition of more than 300 groups, including the AFL-CIO, that have endorsed the bill, the groups write:
We need bold congressional action in order to put Americans back to work and prevent more layoffs and cuts in crucial services. The Local Jobs for America Act will not only provide employment for hundreds of thousands of jobless workers, it will create and save jobs for workers who are providing services that our communities badly need.
Communities across the nation are dealing with serious budget shortfalls that are forcing layoffs and cuts in vital human services, actions which committee chairman Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) says “threaten to derail our nation’s economic recovery.”
Senate Passes Jobs Bill, Obama Signature Next
The U.S. Senate today passed a jobs bill that AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka calls a ”good start” in helping the nation’s workers climb out of the 11-million-deep jobs hole dug by the Wall Street greed that propelled the economy’s nosedive.
But he says the bill—which is on its way to the White House for President Obama’s signature—must be the first step of a broad and intensive effort to rebuild the economy.
Much more needs to be done. We need to restore the jobs that were lost to the financial debacle, and Wall Street should pay to create them. We must invest in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and in the green jobs of the future. We have to maintain funding for vital services by state and local governments and prevent destructive cuts in education, police and fire protection and more.
New Legislation Would Create 1 Million Jobs
Members of Congress and a bipartisan group of mayors today announced new legislation they say will create or save up to 1 million public- and private-sector jobs. Jobs saved would include those such as firefighters, police and teachers and others whose jobs are in jeopardy because of local government budget cuts.
The nation’s economic crisis is forcing states and municipalities to cut jobs that are critically important to local communities. State and local governments and school districts face $178 billion in budget deficits this year alone. Last month, AFSCME members across the country rallied in state capitals to urge legislators to raise revenue to save needed public services.
The Local Jobs for America Act, developed with mayors, county officials and others, also contains job-creation strategies to enable small businesses to help hundreds of thousands of individuals get private-sector jobs. A bill number has not yet been assigned.
