Bipartisan Report Shows U.S. Must Move Aggressively on China’s Illegal Acts
The 2009 report to Congress by the bipartisan U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) is a call to action for the United States to move aggressively against China’s illegal moves in the global economy and to create an industrial strategy to rebuild our manufacturing base, several experts said today.
During a telephone press conference sponsored by the Campaign for America’s Future, Carolyn Bartholomew said China has developed a plan to build national wealth and increase its power and influence in the world and the United States has not.
Here’s What the World Labor Movement Is Saying to President Obama and Asian Leaders
The global labor movement and the AFL-CIO are urging President Obama and other world leaders meeting in Singapore at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to take strong stands on issues of jobs, trade imbalances, currency policy, workers’ rights and climate change.
With 59 million people expected to be unemployed worldwide by the end of the year, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other trade union leaders called on the G-20 countries, which include China and Japan, to continue to press for a coordinated global economic strategy to stimulate new jobs to ensure a real recovery. China’s stimulus package has been significantly larger compared to the size of China’s economy than the U.S. stimulus and has been credited with driving China’s rapid recovery.
Military Veterans Deserve Jobs When They Return
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While we take the time this Veterans Day to honor the courage and sacrifice shown by our veterans, we should also rededicate ourselves to making sure vets have a secure and stable life after they finish their service.
The U.S. Labor Department reports the unemployment rate among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is 11.3 percent, significantly above the overall rate of 10.2 percent for the nation as a whole. Some 185,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are out of work. Many of these unemployed veterans are National Guard or Reserve troops who were called to duty but found when they came home that their old jobs were no longer there for them.
The AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council is calling on Congress to strengthen and enforce the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which ensures veterans can claim their former jobs when they return from active duty.
In his Veterans Day message, Union Veterans Council Chairman Mark Ayers quotes President Franklin Roosevelt who signed the first GI Bill into law in 1944:
What our servicemen and women want, more than anything else, is the assurance of satisfactory employment upon their return to civil life.
SAG President Joins AFL-CIO Executive Council
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The AFL-CIO Executive Council today welcomed a new member, Ken Howard, president of the Screen Actors (SAG). Howard, who was elected to lead the actor’s union in September 2009, replaces former SAG President Alan Rosenberg.
Convening for a one-day meeting in Washington, D.C., the council heard from Ron Bloom, senior counselor to President Obama for manufacturing policy and a former staff member at the United Steelworkers (USW). The council and union leaders have repeatedly called on the Obama administration to quickly enact a national industrial policy to foster and sustain growth in the nation’s manufacturing industries. Increasing our manufacturing capacity is critical as the world prepares to move toward a green economy.
Pollster Celinda Lake also shared the results of polling on the economy and the political implications of a protracted jobs crisis.
U.S. Jobless Rate Shocking: 15.7 Million Workers Unemployed
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Stunningly bad news on the nation’s jobless rate today: Unemployment worsened in October to 10.2 percent, a huge jump from 9.8 percent in September. That’s 15.7 million jobless workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Worse, the unemployment and underemployment rate is a shocking 17.5 percent—more than 27 million American workers without full-time jobs.
The construction, manufacturing and retail industries had the biggest losses, with 62,000 construction jobs lost in October, 61,000 in manufacturing and 40,000 in retail. Health care and temporary employment were the only bright spots, with health care jobs increasing by 29,000 and temp jobs by 44,000.
$3.4 Billion Smart Grid Investment Will Create Tens of Thousands of Jobs
The nation needs jobs—big time. So it’s good to see that a $3.4 billion smart energy grid investment announced today by the Obama administration also will generate many new jobs.
In addition to saving energy and empowering consumers to cut their electric bills, the move will create tens of thousands of jobs in 49 states. This from the White House:
These jobs include high paying career opportunities for smart meter manufacturing workers; engineering technicians, electricians and equipment installers; IT system designers and cyber security specialists; data entry clerks and database administrators; business and power system analysts; and others.
Tanker Contract Would Create 44,000 Jobs in United States
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Remember the efforts by the Bush administration last year to tilt the competitive bid process in favor of giving a $35 billion contract to Airbus over Boeing?
Only after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) upheld Boeing’s protest of the Air Force’s decision to award the contract to EADS/Airbus and Northrop Grumman did Defense Secretary Robert Gates cancel the competition for the Air Force’s refueling tankers.
John Olsen, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, alerts us that the issue is back. In an op-ed in the Hartford Courant, Olsen points out that the French use billions of illegal subsidies to low-bid their contract proposal—and the Obama administration should insist the total value of any such Airbus subsidies are taken into account in the bidding to build the new tanker.
Wall Street Won’t Do Right. Now They Have To
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So, Wall Street CEOs didn’t figure out on their own that when they take taxpayer money, they have a moral obligation to help the overall economy with their $700 billion public-funded bailout rather than single-mindedly line their own pockets with billions of dollars in salaries, bonuses and other ego-inflating perks.
Funny how “moral obligation” and “Wall Street” tend to be mutually exclusive terms.
Wall Street CEOs wouldn’t do it on their own. So now they have to.
Poll: Creating New Jobs Trumps Fixing Deficit
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With unemployment at the highest rate in 26 years, most Americans want the government to create more jobs before it worries about the deficit.
A new survey of public views of the economy, released today by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), shows more than eight of 10 Americans (83 percent) see unemployment as a big problem today.
While voters have some concern about the growth of the federal deficit, job creation is far and away their top priority. In fact, by a margin of 53 percent to 42 percent, voters are more concerned about rising unemployment rates than the rising federal deficit.
The Tracking the Recovery survey was conducted among 802 registered voters nationwide from Sept. 21-23 by Hart Research Associates for EPI. The poll takes an indepth look at Americans’ experiences in this recession, their expectations for the year ahead, their views of the government’s role and degree of success so far and their priorities for further government action. Click here to download the poll results.
USW Workers Ratify Goodyear Contract Covering 10,300 Workers
The United Steelworkers (USW) announced that workers overwhelmingly ratified a new four-year agreement covering some 10,300 union members at seven Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. plants. The new pact provides job security and maintains quality, affordable health care for the union members.
The agreement also protects six of the seven plants from closure during the term of the agreement and provides for minimum staffing levels. As part of the deal, Goodyear committed to invest $600 million in capital expenditures in the plants, keeping them up to date and globally competitive.
USW President Leo Gerard said:
During this difficult economic period, this contract gives our members job security for the next four years.
