Trumka: Working People Want a Strong, Independent Labor Movement
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In a major address at the National Press Club today, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka charted an aggressive independent approach by working people and their unions to build the power of working people in the workplace and in the political sphere. Trumka told the live audience and thousands of viewers on C-SPAN and other news outlets:
Working people want a labor movement strong enough to help return balance to our economy, fairness to our tax system, security to our families and moral and economic standing to our nation. Our role is not to build the power of a political party or a candidate. It is to improve the lives of working families and strengthen our country.
It doesn’t matter if candidates and parties are controlling the wrecking ball or simply standing aside—the outcome is the same either way. If leaders aren’t blocking the wrecking ball and advancing working families’ interests, working people will not support them. This is where our focus will be—now, in 2012 and beyond.
Read the entire speech here.
An independent voice is crucial, Trumka said, because the ongoing attacks on working people’s rights, new efforts at curtailing voting rights and calls for austerity on the backs of seniors, children and the sick are not just mean-spirited politics. They are the battle lines of a moral challenge for the soul of America, he said.
… these events signal a new and dangerous phase of a concerted effort to change the very nature of America—to turn this into an “I’ve got mine” nation and replace the land of liberty and justice for all with the land of the rich, by the rich, for the rich.
Watch Trumka’s National Press Club Address Tomorrow
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Here’s a reminder: Tomorrow, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka will deliver an address at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., outlining the tough questions the nation faces and reviewing the anti-worker actions in Wisconsin, Ohio and other states.
He also will discuss working family goals in the 2012 elections, the demands for austerity in a jobless recovery as gas and food prices go up and housing prices fall. At the same time, he also will explore the shared values Americans hold that can be a road map forward.
If you can’t be there, the speech will be live webcast beginning at 12:50 p.m. at http://press.org.
If you plan to attend, reservations can be made by calling 202-662-7501 or visiting reservations@press.org. Cost of luncheon admission is $18 for National Press Club members, $29 for their guests and $36 for general admission.
The luncheon begins at 12:30 p.m. and Trumka’s remarks will begin at 1 p.m. ET, followed by a question-and-answer session. The Press Club is located at 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.
Trumka to Deliver Major Address at National Press Club
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka will deliver a major address May 20 at the National Press Club’s luncheon in Washington, D.C. Trumka will put a sharp edge on the questions our nation faces as he reflects on recent activity in states like Wisconsin and Ohio and looks toward the 2012 elections. He’ll discuss demands for austerity in a jobless economic recovery, as housing prices go down and gas prices go up, and the shared values that can and should form America’s path forward.
In states such as Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana, efforts by governors to effectively curb public employee union rights to collective bargaining have produced popular outrage and spawned legal challenges and recall campaigns.
Trumka Speech to Unveil Working Family Vision for Economy
Tomorrow, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka will detail the choices elected leaders across the country are facing and outline working people’s vision for the future of the American economy when he delivers a major speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
With the nation now in its 20th straight month with unemployment above 9 percent, that vision focuses squarely on jobs.
In the address, “America’s Choices: Why the Conventional Wisdom Is Wrong,” Trumka also will address the current political climate in Washington and the states.
At the same time, House Republicans will be taking their first votes to repeal health care reform before moving on to an agenda of gutting Wall Street reform, cutting Social Security, blocking job-creating infrastructure funding and rolling back workers’ rights.
We will bring you coverage of the speech in the morning and have video clips in the afternoon. If you are in the Washington, D.C., area, click here to register to attend. The doors at the National Press Club—529 14th St., N.W.—will open at 8:30 a.m. and the speech begins at 9 a.m.
Marchers Spotlight Massey Mine Deaths at CEO Blankenship Press Club Speech
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AFL-CIO Media Outreach Fellow Nora Frederickson contributed to this story.
Inside the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., today, Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship tried to defend the indefensible—Massey’s coal mine safety record.
Thirty-one miners have died in Massey mines this year, including 29 in the April 5 explosion at the Upper Big Branch (W.Va.) mine. Fifty-four coal miners have been killed in the past decade at Massey mines.
Outside the Press Club, more than 70 union members marched and chanted, demanding that Blankenship and Massey be held accountable (see video). Refining an old anti-war chant, the marchers sang out “Hey, Hey Blankenship. How many Miners You Killed Today?” and “54 dead. Should have been none.” Read the rest of this entry »
L.A. Hotel Worker Rally Caps off Trumka’s California Jobs and Justice Tour
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At a rally last night in front of the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told a cheering crowd of about 1,000 members of UNITEHERE! Local 11 and supporters from the unions of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor:
It’s time to take on the Hyatt Hotel Corporation!
The rally, filled with hundreds of people and chanting drums so loud they echoed off high rise buildings, wrapped up his jobs and hotel worker justice swing through California.
The Hyatt is one of several national hotel chains that are using the recession as an excuse to demand cuts in health care benefits and other concessions in contract talks. In Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, some, 20,000 UNITEHERE! members since last year have been working without contracts, while contracts for hotel workers in a half dozen other cities are set to expire soon.
