Trumka Talks Jobs, Voter Anger on ‘Bill Moyers Journal’
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In a wide-ranging, 30-minute conversation Friday on “Bill Moyers Journal,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka talked about the need for a large-scale jobs program, what’s fueling voters’ anger, health care reform, the need for workers to regain the freedom to form unions and more.
Following are just a few excerpts. Click here to view the full video or read the transcript.
Pointing to the State of the Union address, Trumka told Moyers that President Obama has “realized that there is a lot of anger and frustration out there,” centered on jobs and the economy—and the best way to address that anger is a jobs bill. Asked how big, Trumka said:
It has to be a large scale. We lost 8 million jobs, plus we have 2 million that we needed for growth. So, we’re 10 million jobs in the hole. In order to do that, it’s going to take more than a little stimulus package or a little jobs bill.
Trumka on ‘Moyers’ Tonight, CNN Sunday
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AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is tonight’s featured guest on “Bill Moyers Journal” on PBS. In an in-depth 30-minute interview, Trumka will outline steps to restore the nation’s economy, create jobs and rebuild the middle class.
He will talk about the AFL-CIO’s role in creating a broad movement of Americans to demand jobs and an economy that works for families on Main Street and why bankers and brokers on Wall Street must be held accountable with strong new financial reform rules.
Trumka will discuss why health care reform must pass and what it must include. He will explain why it’s time to restore the freedom of workers to form unions and bargain for a better life.
Visit PBS to find the TV schedule for the time and channel in your area.
Trumka also will appear on CNN’s “State of the Union with John King” Sunday at 12:40 p.m. EST to discuss jobs, the economy, health care and deliver labor’s response to President Obama’s State of the Union address.
Labor Across Prime Time TV
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Prime time last night was well worth watching. The NewsHour on PBS profiled AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, and MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann hosted California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro.
NewsHour showcased Trumka’s start as a coal miner in Pennsylvania and his graduation from Villanova Law School, his rise to president of the Mine Workers and his key role in the tough battle against Pittston Coal Co. The segment included clips from those early days, through to his emotional acceptance speech at our convention in September, when he was elected AFL-CIO president.
As NewsHour pointed out, Trumka made his name “as a bulldog against corporate overreach” while he was AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer.
Work Songs, Bargaining for Work and Family and More from Cool Tools
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Our latest edition of Cool Tools includes a look at successful Blue-Green coalitions, working songs from labor’s long musical history and educational resources to help you put vital family life issues on the bargaining table. The AFL-CIO’s Cool Tools assembles the latest hot picks for union activists and allies. (If you can’t locate the items at The Union Shop Online,TM try Powell’s Books, the nation’s largest union bookstore, or get a list of union stores at The Union Shop Online.TM)
Union and environmental activists are finding new power and success in the growing Blue-Green movement. University of Florida sociologist Brian Mayer’s new book, Blue-Green Coalitions: Fighting for Safe Workplaces and Healthy Communities, finds that
attempts to build blue-green coalitions are likely to succeed when [workplace and environmental] health is the starting point for finding a common ground.
USW President Gerard Sets the Record Right on Employee Free Choice Act
It’s awfully hard to find accurate and fair descriptions of unions, their leaders and issues in the mainstream media. Clichés and stereotypes that just won’t die far too often substitute for fair reporting or analysis.
That’s why yesterday’s in-depth profile of United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was so refreshing. In addition, Gerard’s appearance Friday on “Bill Moyers Journal” on PBS was a great rebuttal to the many ill-informed, slanted or just down-right lies about the Employee Free Choice Act filling the airwaves and news columns.
Post-Gazette reporter Ann Belser explores Gerard’s deep commitment to working hard for working families and the union on issues such as universal health care and getting the economy back on track.
Click here to read the profile.
