V.I.P.: THE GREAT AMERICAN JOB- a must read statement from AFL-CIO President
V.I.P.: THE GREAT AMERICAN JOB
Put this on the endangered species list: the great American Job. John J. Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, National Press Club, is worried about what he calls ‘the Senseless Slaughter of the Good American Job.”
According to Sweeney asks: “What are we going to do about the destruction of good jobs in our country — the jobs that for the past half century helped us create the largest middle class, the most dynamic economy and the strongest democracy in the history of the world?”
Sweeney points out: “We hear and read a lot about the violence in our cities, and the word most often used to describe it is ’senseless’ - the death of a young man here in Washington, DC over New Year’s was characterized in the media as ’senseless.’ It seems to me we should use the same language not just to describe wanton acts of physical violence, but also to depict the violence being visited upon working families and our communities by the killing of good jobs. The senseless slaughter of the good American job has been going on for the past 25 years.”
Sweeney is worried about “a perfect storm of outsourcing, off-shoring, tax evasion, lay offs, work speedups, wage cuts, health care cuts, pension cuts, shifting risks, bashing unions and short-changing communities. It is a storm that has swamped the boats of middle class workers and destroyed the frail crafts of ethnic and immigrant workers …
The failure of our national leaders to preserve and create good jobs is tattooed on the souls of 30 million workers who … were involuntarily displaced from their jobs from 1981 to 2001 …
… if I were President, I would ask every member of the House and Senate to sign on as a sponsor to the Employee Free Choice Act, which guarantees the freedom of America’s workers to come together in unions and bargain for a better life.
It will stop American employers from taking advantage of our laughable labor laws to destroy the unions that keep our middle class healthy and growing. It will make it possible for workers to join unions and add their voices to our campaign for the good jobs that guarantee economic equality and a strong democracy. And then, my friends, my brothers and sisters, we can get on with the job of turning this country around.”
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