Where Things Are Made
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AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is a key speaker at tomorrow’s Building the New Economy conference here in Washington, D.C. United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard and economist Jeff Madrick also are among the keynote speakers.
To our nation’s peril, the free trade orthodoxy continues to ignore a fundamental economic fact: It matters where things are made. Over the past decade, the U.S. industrial base has suffered an unprecedented decline. The loss of more than 5 million manufacturing jobs and the closure of over 50,000 manufacturing facilities have undermined our nation’s technical capacity to innovate and to make things, while at the same time decimating our middle class.
Let’s Foment a Green Industrial Revolution
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Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers, is among several key speakers at the Building the New Economy conference Oct. 29 in Washington, D.C. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka also is among the keynote speakers. Here Gerard describes why we need a 21st century green manufacturing revolution.
We need to foment a new American industrial revolution—specifically, a 21st century burgeoning of green manufacturing in the United States.
Americans going green—manufacturing windmills and solar cells—would benefit both the economy and the environment. As the Wall Street debacle that pushed this country into the Great Recession last year showed, the United States cannot depend on trading in obscure financial products to support its economy. To survive, America must be able to manufacture products of intrinsic value that can be traded here and internationally.
Gov. Corzine: Unions Key to Income Equality
As the state with the most extensive union membership, it’s no surprise that New Jersey working families have a strong social contract, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine said today. Speaking at a lunchtime panel at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh, Corzine told the hundreds of progressive bloggers in the audience:
There is no question that the association of the union movement with shared wealth is absolutely a reality—and we need to get back to it.
Corzine, who is in a tough fight with challenger Chris Christie in one of two governor’s races this fall, said the distribution of income in this country is skewed—with the nation’s tax policy ”completely tilted toward corporations against labor.” (Media reports today tie Bush-backer Christie with Karl Rove and the illegal firing of U.S. attorneys. Find out more about Christi’s anti-worker stances here.)
Take the Pledge: Buy American
So, the world isn’t flat after all. Not that some of us ever bought into Thomas Friedman-speak. But many in this country did, especially those running the political show, and now we have a chance to shape a progressive future on the ashes of such failed visions.
And that progressive future needs a widespread recognition of the acceptance of the need to Buy America. A good first step is taking the American Auto Revivial Pledge.
One of the hardest connections for those of us in the union movement to make with our progressive allies has been in the area of trade and policies that encourage U.S. consumers to Buy American Made. Especially Buy America.
Why is that so?
AFL-CIO Executive Council: Economic Recovery Package Good First Step
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| IBEW President Ed Hill, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney meet with workers at an IBEW training facility in Miami. | |
In the AFL-CIO Executive Council’s first full day of meetings in Miami, union leaders today addressed vital aspects of reviving the nation’s economy for working families, including growing good jobs, reforming health care, strengthening Social Security and revising the nation’s trade practices, especially with China.
The economic recovery package is a good start to turning around America and putting workers back on the job, say union leaders, who emphasized that rebuilding the nation’s major economic engine—manufacturing—will require strong compliance with the Buy American provisions in the package.
The council also called for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act to help boost the economy by restoring workers freedom to form unions and bargain for better wages and benefits.
Meeting at the union hall of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 349, the Executive Council began the day with a video address from President Obama. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis—who on Monday night joined the council and 700 community members in a forum—spoke with the council during the morning session today.
EPI: Unions Don’t Hurt International Competitiveness
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A new snapshot study from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) debunks the myth that unions have a negative effect on a nation’s ability to compete in a global economy.
Check out the above graph, comparing current account deficit—a measure of international competitiveness—with rates of union membership in major industrialized nations. As we’ve noted, strong unions are compatible with a strong economy, and yet another measure shows it: many nations with higher levels of union membership than the United States, like Canada, Germany and Denmark, have very strong export sectors and a positive trade balance.
Buy American Is About Building Jobs, Not Protectionism
The attack by corporations and their media mouthpieces on the Buy American provision in the economic recovery package illustrates just how far removed Big Business is from the needs of U.S. workers—and, ultimately, from what will benefit the nation.
Last night on the PBS “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” AFL-CIO international economist Thea Lee honed in on the false arguments pushed by corporate interests who mutter darkly about how Buy American provisions will lead to “trade wars.” The Buy American provision mandates that only U.S.-made goods be used in projects funded by the bill—and requires that these steps are taken in a manner consistent with U.S. international trade obligations. So screams of “protectionism” are a red-herring.
U.S., Canadian Union Federations Urge Cooperation in Talks Today
As President Obama meets with Canada’s leaders today for the first time to discuss a range of key bilateral and global issues, the heads of the United States and Canadian trade federations are urging both countries to:
- Work cooperatively to address the current global economic crisis.
- Review and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
- Adopt a series of complementary policies necessary to build a strong, fair economy for workers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Rep. Massa: Employee Free Choice Is Necessary for America
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| Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) |
More than 20 new pro-worker members of Congress were sworn in last week, and among them, Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) is wasting no time in showing his strong support for an economy that works for everyone.
Massa says he backs the Employee Free Choice Act and says he’ll fight to protect the freedom to form unions and bargain. He understands the significance and importance of quick passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.
The Employee Free Choice Act is the most important labor bill in 70 years and I think we’ve waited long enough. We need to raise the bar for all American workers, and the Employee Free Choice Act will help us do just that.
Indiana Working Families Share Economic Concerns with AFL-CIO President Sweeney
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Rita Dongas, communications coordinator for the Indiana State AFL-CIO, joined AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and workers in a roundtable session yesterday to discuss their concerns as we move toward the elections.
“It’s not like you can just find another job. There aren’t any around here,” said Kathleen South of IUE-CWA Local 919 at yesterday’s worker roundtable in Indianapolis. South, who recently lost her job after the Visteon plant she worked at for 22 years closed down in March, was one of eight recently displaced workers from across Indiana who shared their stories at the roundtable hosted by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and Indiana State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Joe Breedlove.
South continued:
I’ll be OK for a few more months but I know that eventually, I’m going to lose the house.
