TRUMKA SAYS NATION'S FUTURE BEGINS AND ENDS WITH "JOBS"



Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, speaks to AFSCME and CSEA delegates at the AFSCME convention in Boston, June 29, 2010.   (photo:  Bess Watts)

Washington, D.C.-- Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO, says Washington politicians are living in an “Alice in Wonderland political climate” that ignores the needs of workers struggling to survive in a difficult economy.

The sharp-edged remarks are part of a speech Mr. Trumka gave Wednesday morning at the National Press Club that was designed to push back against the policies of Republican lawmakers who seized control of the House in last year’s elections. It is also a goad to President Obama, whose administration has recently seemed eager to court the business community.

Trumka expressed anger of the political environment following November’s midterm elections and disappointment with the lack of accomplishment when Democrats retained majorities in Congress.  Tumka also intimated in his speech that President Obama is “about as pro-business as any president.”

Trumka said the labor movement has learned something from the last two years about jobs and investment. He added, "We can’t count on the political process here in Washington to get the job done.”

The AFL-CIO, Trumka said, prioritizes an increase in federal infrastructure spending. He said that the union was working with local governments and businesses on projects, but that a national scale is needed.

The speech helps set the tone of a debate that is likely to intensify as business and labor groups verbally clash up to the 2012 presidential campaign.

The AFL-CIO and other unions spent tens of millions of dollars during the 2010 midterm elections to make the case for Democratic candidates. But most of those candidates ended up losing in a political wave that swept in many lawmakers backed by the increasingly influential Tea Party movement.

Mr. Trumka believes the elections were “fundamentally about jobs” and predicts the 2012 campaign will feature the same concerns among voters.

He added, “People who live in Wonderland may not have noticed, but there is a lot of work to be done here. We have let our transnational business titans convince our politicians that our national strength lies in their profits, not our jobs.”

The speech stands in stark contrast to one given last week by Mr. Trumka’s arch-rival, Tom Donohue, the president and CEO of the United States Chamber of Commerce. In an earlier speech, Mr. Donohue said the economic problems that remain are the regulatory and policy impediments to business growth.

The chamber, officially, will not take sides in the presidential election, although Mr. Donohue’s dislike for many of Mr. Obama’s policies is no secret. And Mr. Donohue has made it clear the group will be very active in pursuing Republican control of the Senate in 2012.

Despite Donohue's tough talk, Trumka is just as determined to make sure that the voice of the worker is also heard.

In his speech yesterday, he accused politicians in Washington and across the country of “attacking the very idea of the American middle class — the idea that in America economic security — health care, a real pension, a wage that can pay for college — is not something for a privileged few, but rather what all of us can earn in exchange for a hard day’s work.”

Next week, President Obama is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address in front of Congress with a newly elected GOP House majority.  Truth be told, it has been a very inauspicious beginning for the GOP-- wasting precious time to vote on appealling the health care bill only to appease the Tea Party folks and the conservative base of the Republican party. 

And, before the repeal dies an ugly death in the Senate, you can be sure Democrats will score political points that will go something like this:  Supporting the repeal will allow insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions; it will allow insurance companies to charge higher premiums to women;  it will prevent parents from covering their children through age 26; it will rob small businesses of tax credits for offering coverage to workers and  it will take prescription drug money out of seniors’ pockets.  That's what the GOP and 3 Democrats in the House voted for last night-- it was a national disgrace. 

This charade comes at a time when the president has already hinted that he will seek a more "pragmatic" and accommodating stance with the Republican leaders of the House.  And, this also comes at a time when the average joe on the street would rather see Congress focus on job creation rather than pass meaningless symbolic legislation through one chamber.

Mr. Trumka also said that the country’s labor movement is eager for “a call to action” by the president on behalf of workers.

“We are ready for vision, and we believe in the President’s vision of a nation that is strong because we are just and true to our values,” Trumka said. “A vision for a national future founded on the profound truth that social justice and material prosperity are not competing values — they are necessary to each other.”