Highlights from ‘Building the New Economy’
Last week, leaders from labor, business and politics came together in Washington, D.C., at the Building the New Economy conference, sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing and the Campaign for America’s Future. A new video shows some highlights from the conference and discussions on the need to rebuild manufacturing in order to strengthen our economy.
Here’s what AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka had to say in his address to the conference:
Our goal must be to develop the best technology and industries that will convert our economy into a greener future, fueled by good jobs right here in America.
The one good thing about the economic collapse is that it lets us—quite frankly, it requires us—to think big.
You can see more comments here from conference attendees like Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Gov. Ed Rendell (D-Penn.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.).
Manufacturing Crucial for Building New Economy
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Over the next decade, America is poised to invest $2 trillion in infrastructure, health care and a greener economy, but that money must be invested strategically to build a new economy, not just retool the current model, which is not working.
Speaking this morning at the Building the New Economy conference in Washington, D.C., AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the global economic collapse requires us to think of long-term strategies to rebuild and restructure our economy, with a revitalized manufacturing sector at its core.
The one-day conference, sponsored by the Institute for America’s Future and the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), is bringing together political, business, environmental and union leaders and economists to discuss the fundamental changes needed to create an economy that provides sustainable long-term growth and creates across-the-board prosperity.
Symposium to Tackle Challenge of Putting America Back to Work
The contrast is staggering: While Wall Street celebrates record earnings for the fat cats at the top financial firms, the reality on Main Street is that more than one in six working Americans is now unemployed or underemployed.
In the midst of this jobless “recovery,” leading policymakers and experts will gather to discuss how public policy should respond to this unprecedented unemployment crisis at the conference, “The Jobs Deficit: The Challenge of Putting America Back to Work.” The New America Foundation’s Bernard L. Schwartz Economic Symposium is sponsoring the discussion Oct. 20 in Washington, D.C.
For more information and to register for the symposium, click here.
Report: Paid Sick Leave Doesn’t Hurt Economy
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As Congress begins considering legislation that would guarantee workers up to seven paid sick days per year, a new study from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), a nonpartisan think tank, finds that mandatory paid sick days do not lead to higher unemployment.
“Paid Sick Days Don’t Cause Unemployment” examines the connection between government-mandated paid sick days and the national rate of unemployment in 22 highly developed countries. Click here to read the report.
Says John Schmitt, a senior economist at CEPR and co-author of the report:
Despite frequent claims to the contrary from some in the business community, we found no correlation between paid sick days and unemployment. Guaranteeing paid sick days does not put countries at a competitive disadvantage.
Old Economy Doesn’t Work—Time for a New Model
An economy in which the rest of the world produces and America consumes no longer works. The United States must begin to make more of the things we consume. That will require a new vision for our economy and concrete actions to change the core policies that created the current global economic crisis.
Speaking during a workshop at the America’s Future Now conference this morning, several members of a panel on global economic strategy said the key to long-term economic recovery is the creation of a new economic model that emphasizes production and savings, not consumption.
That new vision must include actions to fight the major causes of the collapse of U.S. manufacturing—currency manipulation, trade policies that foster a race to the cheapest sources of labor, tax policies that encourage companies to move offshore and the imbalance of power between workers and employers.
New Bill Would Aid Many of the 57 Million U.S. Workers Without Paid Sick Leave
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Unlike workers in 21 of the richest nations in the world, U.S. workers have no guaranteed paid sick leave to care for themselves or a family member who is ill.
Although union members can bargain for paid sick leave and some firms offer paid leave, nearly half of private-sector workers in this country have no paid sick days. Low-income workers fare even worse—76 percent have no paid sick leave. Overall, 57 million private-sector workers have no paid sick days, and 94 million cannot use their paid sick leave to care for an ailing child.
Today in the House, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) reintroduced the Healthy Families Act, which would require employers with 15 or more employees to allow workers to earn up to seven paid sick leave days a year to take care of themselves or a family member. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is expected to reintroduce the Senate version of the bill later this week.
Labor FY 2010 Budget Will Protect Workers. What a Concept
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis told two congressional committees this week that the Department of Labor’s fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget will
restore capacity in our worker protection programs, which have languished for years.
Appearing in separate hearings before the Senate and House Appropriations committees’ Labor, Health and Human Services and Education subcommittees, Solis said the department’s budget—including a 10 percent increase for worker protection programs—will fund three priorities:
- Renewed capacity of programs that protect workers’ safety and health, pay and benefits;
- New and innovative ways to promote economic recovery and the competitiveness of our nation’s workers; and
- Carrying out programs in a way that is accountable and transparent to the public and our stakeholders.
Massachusetts Moving on Paid Sick Leave Legislation
In recent weeks, we’ve all heard the advice to stay home from work if symptoms show up that could indicate an H1N1 (swine flu) infection. But as the National Partnership for Women and Families (NPWF) long has pointed out, nearly 50 percent of private-sector workers have no paid sick leave. And 76 percent of low-income workers lose a day or more of pay if they stay home sick.
Tomorrow in Boston, the Massachusetts Paid Leave Coalition will make that point and urge lawmakers to make the Bay State the first to require employers to provide paid sick leave for workers.
The coalition, which includes the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, affiliated unions, community and other groups, will gather in the State House in the 4th floor cafeteria and distribute surgical masks and flu “prescriptions” urging passage of legislation (S.B. 688 and H.B. 1815) allowing workers to earn up to seven paid sick leave days a year.
House Passes Two Major Working Family Bills: Fair Pay Act, Paycheck Fairness Act
Lilly Ledbetter says she knows she’ll never recover the hundreds of thousands of dollars she lost from her paychecks because of nearly 20 years of pay discrimination. But today the U.S. House of Representatives, with a big push by Ledbetter’s refusal to go quietly away, took the first step to make sure millions of other women don’t suffer the same fate.
By a vote of 247-171, the House passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Act (H.R. 11) overturning the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that denied Ledbetter—and any worker who suffers pay discrimination—justice. Then shortly after, lawmakers added some new teeth to equal pay laws and passed the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 12) by a 256-163 vote. Both bills now go to the U.S. Senate.
