Social Forum Focuses on Workers’ Issues
Workers’ issues were the focus of five days of marches, rallies and workshops at the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit, which ended over the weekend. Grassroots activists and progressives from across the country came together to build new alliances, create new strategies and put new energy into the movement to turn around the American economy.
Writing in Workday Minnesota, Howard Kling quotes a UAW leader who says the forum was an opportunity for labor to build relationships with other movements and encourage a “strong, fight-back attitude toward the intense corporate agenda that is blocking change on health care, labor rights, fair trade policies and a host of issues that we believe in.”
U.S. Social Forum: Marchers Demand ‘Money for Jobs, Not Banks’
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Devon Whitham on the AFL-CIO staff is attending the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit. She reports on yesterday’s “Money for Jobs, Not for Banks” march.
Thousands of community, religious and labor activists from across the country marched through the streets of Detroit yesterday calling for urgent action to save and create jobs, extend jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed, stop foreclosures and preserve public services.
Chanting “Full and Fair Employment Now!” and “Money for Jobs, Not for Banks!” union members and our allies in town for the U.S. Social Forum joined forces to demand Congress address the pressing jobs emergency.
Saundra Williams, president of the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO, told the crowd:
We’re here today, marching in the hot sun because we have seen too many homes, jobs and hopes destroyed. We’re fighting for our rights, our dignity, our families and our futures, and we’re calling on Congress to do its job and take urgent action to end this crisis which has so devastated much of the nation.
Strong Economy Needs Robust Public Sector
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| AFT President Randi Weingarten led much of Tuesday’s convention discussions. |
We will not have a strong economy without a strong public sector. Over the past decade, the budgets of state and local governments have been decimated by tax cuts and the recession.
Today, delegates to the AFL-CIO Convention recognized the economic free fall not only threatens the stability of the economy, but also jeopardizes the welfare of our most vulnerable citizens, public safety and health and the protection of our environment.
Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO President Saundra Williams said conservatives have demonized government for decades, leading to official neglect and disinvestment in public services. Government responsibilities have been privatized or outsourced.
The results are clear, whether it’s the tragically slow and inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina or the financial crisis, which shows the consequences of failing to regulate corporate behavior.
