Tag Archives: Richard Trumka

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

AFL – CIO


I’m in Ohio right now, where working families just won an incredible victory.

Ohioans overwhelmingly voted to repeal Senate Bill 5—Gov. John Kasich’s
attack on middle-class jobs that was designed to destroy collective
bargaining rights in Ohio.

We pieced together a short, powerful video summing up the amazing energy
that went into this. I hope you’ll take a moment to watch:

Watch now.

Tonight’s victory represents a turning point in our collective work to protect good jobs, working families and workplace rights. But it’s more than that. It’s a long-overdue return to common sense.

From the very beginning of our jobs crisis, anti-worker politicians like
Ohio’s Gov. Kasich have used our poor economy to push a cynical
political agenda that favors the richest 1 percent at the expense of the
99 percent. Today, Ohio voters rejected that agenda.

During this campaign, firefighters, nurses, teachers and other public
employees were joined by construction workers, bakery workers and all
kinds of private-sector workers. They came together to ensure the
survival of the middle class. And together, we’ll keep doing it.
Politicians who side with the richest 1 percent will find their radical
efforts stopped by working people who want America to work for everyone.

Watch the energy and dedication that went into this huge victory—and join us.

This is our moment, and we won with solidarity. We won because the working people of Ohio—public and private sector, union and nonunion—stood together.

But the solidarity went even further than that: Volunteers traveled not
just from neighboring Wisconsin—but from states as far away as California and New York—to help get out the vote. And activists from dozens of states as far away as Alaska gave up their nights and weekends to call Ohio voters from home.

Solidarity means that when workers anywhere are under attack, we will
all do whatever we can to help. It means we’re in it together.

Watch our video. See what solidarity looks like.

I hope you’ll celebrate this moment in your own way. But the most
important thing is to find a way to keep your own energy going and
growing—so you can be a part of sustaining and growing our movement for
all working people—the 99 percent.

This  fight we’ve taken on and won—and the threats we
face going forward—are  about more than Democrats or Republicans, or
2012 battleground states.  They are about good jobs and our  right to a
voice on the job.

Together, we’re building a new kind of politics. A politics that works for the 99 percent, not just the 1 percent.

We’ve got to start getting ready now to win tomorrow’s
victories. Over time—together—we’ll build a future that works for
working America.

Thank you for being a part of this movement, and for all you do for America’s workers.

In Solidarity,

Richard L. Trumka

President, AFL-CIO

P.S. America is waking up. Here’s one big reason we won in
Ohio—people can see that the firefighters, teachers, nurses and snowplow
drivers hurt by SB 5 didn’t cause our economic problems. Wall Street
did. Ohio voters saw through Senate Bill 5—they understood it was a
plan to make the 99 percent bear the burden of Wall Street’s
recklessness—and that it would do nothing to create jobs.

Take a moment to watch the incredible energy that went into this win.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

AFL – CIO

1 Comment

According to press reports, Democrats on Congress’s debt reduction
“super committee” proposed hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to
Social Security and Medicare benefits, as well as Medicaid, while
Republicans proposed even bigger and more harmful cuts to these
essential middle-class benefits.AFL-CIO President Richard
Trumka recorded a video message to fill you in on what’s happening and
what you can do. Please watch right away.

Watch Now

 

Facebook Share this on Facebook    Twitter Share this on Twitter

The
debt reduction “super committee” that’s considering these cuts is no
ordinary congressional committee. It is empowered by law to propose
legislation that cannot be amended and can be rammed through Congress
quickly, with minimal debate. That’s why we need you to get your friends
involved.

Once you’ve watched President Trumka’s video, be sure to share it on Facebook and Twitter with your friends and family.

And stay alert. We  may soon need you to take action to save the middle class. Hours or even  minutes could matter. We are the 99%, and Congress needs to represent us. It’s that simple.

In Solidarity,

Manny Herrmann

Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

AFL – CIO


68,842 bridges across America need work. So do America’s unemployed workers.

 

Tell Congress: These bridges need work, and so do America’s jobless workers.

In America, 68,842 bridges are deficient—and 282,672,680 vehicles cross
those bridges every day. Meanwhile, 9.1 percent of Americans are
jobless.

With so many people out of work and so many bridges and other pieces of
critical infrastructure in need of work, there’s a simple solution:
Congress must pass legislation putting jobless Americans to work fixing
critical infrastructure—bridges, schools, roads, ports and more.

Tell
your members of Congress: America is ready to get to work on our
bridges, transit, rail, airports, highways, ports, schools and the rest
of our failing infrastructure.

These projects don’t just create good jobs for the people who do the
original work—though that’s a big part of why they are important right
now. They also make our economy perform better in the long term by
increasing productivity. And they make America a better, safer place to
live.

Immediate work on America’s
crumbling infrastructure is a start. But we also need to pass a fully
funded surface transportation reauthorization and start now on even
bigger projects—world-class communications and energy systems,
high-speed rail and other infrastructure we need to be competitive in
the 21st century.

Tell
Congress: We need to fix our broken infrastructure and get started on
even bigger projects, too—the world-class communications and energy
systems, high-speed rail and other infrastructure we need to be
competitive in the 21st century.

I haven’t been to China, though I hope to go soon. But I am told that when you fly to Shanghai,
you land in a brand-new airport, you have high-speed broadband access
from the moment you arrive and you can get on a high-speed train in the
arrival terminal that will take you directly to downtown Shanghai at
speeds faster than 100 miles per hour.

This just isn’t available in any U.S. city. But we can change that. We
can meet these standards—and beat them. But only if our leaders rise to
the challenge.

Thank you for all the work you do.

In Solidarity,

Richard L. Trumka

President, AFL-CIO

P.S. In tough times, America has come together and put America back to work by building and rebuilding our infrastructure. But so far, the Republicans won’t do it.
That’s why we’re taking the pressure to every individual member of
Congress today—highlighting just how much work there is to be done and
how many jobless Americans are ready to get to work.

Tell
your members of Congress: America is ready to get to work. Let’s get
started on our bridges, transit, rail, airports, highways, ports,
schools and the rest of our failing infrastructure.

To find out how many bridges need work in your state and your state’s unemployment rate, click here.

 
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Will you Join US?


Will you join me and President Obama in insisting that Congress get busy fixing our jobs crisis—and pay for it by asking millionaires and billionaires like Warren Buffett to pay their fair share?

Tell your lawmakers to start fixing America’s jobs crisis—and let them know you’ll hold them accountable if they won’t.

WWW.AFLCIO.ORG

Jobs are the crisis in America. Our economy will not recover until people get work.

America wants to work. But how hard are you willing to work to create jobs? If you’re willing to go all-out, let your lawmakers know right now.

President Obama understands the severity of America’s jobs crisis. This morning, he called on Congress to get moving on solutions—and to pay for his American Jobs Act by restoring tax fairness. He hit the nail on the head when he said, “Warren Buffett’s secretary shouldn’t pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett.”

Thanks to President Obama, our national conversation is moving in the right direction. With the release of the American Jobs Act—and today’s speech—he has come forward with important steps to start addressing our jobs crisis. Now, it’s our job to demand action.

Let Congress know you’re ready to go to the mat in pushing our leaders to create jobs.

Over the coming days and weeks, as part of our America Wants to Work campaign, we’ll be asking for your help to advance a job creation agenda that will:

Rebuild America for the 21st century by investing in the schools, roads, bridges, transit, ports, rail, communications and energy jobs and systems we need to succeed.
Revive U.S. manufacturing and reform our trade policies, so we can export American-made goods and services—and stop exporting good jobs.
Help our cities and states—and the federal government—avoid layoffs that drag down our economy and threaten essential services to communities.
Directly create millions of jobs in local communities, especially hard-hit communities of color. These jobs must pay competitive wages and target distressed communities and must not replace existing jobs.
Solve the massive shortfall of consumer demand by extending unemployment benefits and keeping homeowners in their homes.
Reform Wall Street so it helps Main Street create jobs.

Tell your lawmakers: America wants to work. It’s time to end the distractions and political brinksmanship that have left working families out in the cold and take bold action to create jobs.   WWW.AFLCIO.ORG

We will not reduce our demands or accept failure. And we will not accept any schemes to cut Medicaid or Social Security or Medicare benefits in exchange for getting Americans back to work.

To make our case for jobs, we will flood Congress with calls and e-mails. We will take our demands to the streets—and to the front doors of congressional offices. And we will make it clear to corporations, to elected officials and to the press just how many this crisis hurts in our communities, just how much pain is caused by inaction and just how tireless our pursuit of good jobs will be.

Get started today: Let Congress know you’ll be fighting for jobs, and it’s time for members of Congress to join you.   WWW.AFLCIO.ORG

Our campaign to get America back to work will not stop—it will only grow stronger. We will start by ratcheting up the pressure now. And we will make sure leaders who fail to put jobs first are held accountable in 2012. Because what happens in the coming days and months—and during the next year—will determine the future of America’s working middle class.

Will we work hard enough, starting now and through the next election, to preserve America’s middle class? Or will we fail? It’s up to us.

If you’re ready to work for working people, start by letting Congress know.   WWW.AFLCIO.ORG

This morning, President Obama outlined the choices our country faces:

“Either we ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share in taxes or we ask seniors to pay more for Medicare. We can’t afford to do both. Either we gut education and medical research or we’ve got to reform the tax code so that most profitable corporations have to give up tax loopholes that other companies don’t get. We can’t afford to do both. This is not class warfare; it’s math.”

With your help, we can create jobs in a fair way. And we can pay for it—as President Obama proposed—by requiring millionaires, billionaires and profitable corporations to pay their fair share to get America back on track.

Thank you for standing with us.

In Solidarity,

Richard L. Trumka
President, AFL-CIO

P.S. Your action today is only the beginning. Because you know as well as I do that getting Congress to take real action to tackle America’s jobs crisis won’t be easy—it will be supremely difficult to overcome the partisanship and political games.

That’s why I need you to stay with us. We’ll ask you to follow up with more actions—and harder actions—and to rise to the challenge for America’s working middle class.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

AFL – CIO


President Obama took an important and necessary step last night: He started a serious national conversation about how to solve our jobs crisis.Now, Congressneeds to get to work.Tell Congress—particularly congressional Republicans—to stop playing politics and get to work to create jobs.

Did you watch President Obama’s speech last night? He showed working people he is willing to go to the mat to create new jobs on a substantial scale. His speech should energize the nation to come together and get serious about jobs.

We call on Congress to act and look forward to working with the president and Congress on all elements of this proposal. As the president explained, we no longer can delay putting Americans back to work rebuilding our nation’s schools, roads, bridges, transit, ports, rail, communications and energy systems. And we need to help state and local governments avoid layoffs that are dragging down the economy—rejecting the myth that the only way to end a crisis Wall Street started is to punish firefighters, teachers and others who perform critical public services.

Tell Congress: It’s time to get moving on jobs. Start with President Obama’s proposals and then keep going.

The plan announced by President Obama to create jobs is only the opening bid in a national conversation we’ve needed to have for a long time. In the coming weeks and months, we expect to see more proposals from the president and Congress to put America back to work.

President Obama understands this economic crisis was not created overnight, and it will not be solved overnight. The middle class has been under attack for decades. He understands we need to rebuild our economy for the 21st century and rebuild our middle class.

But doing this will require a revolution in the way Washington takes on these questions. Republicans are going to have to stop blocking bills that sustain or create millions of jobs and start offering and accepting credible solutions. As the president explained last night, we can delay no longer.

Tell Congress America wants to work. Add your name, then spread the word to your friends and family.

America isn’t broke—we’re the richest country in the world. We will only go broke if our leaders fail year after year to create jobs and turn our economy around. We can’t let that happen.

Politicians need to recognize that America’s best days are still before us. We cannot accept the disappearance of the American middle class or several more years of crisis-level joblessness. We can and must solve the jobs crisis—and we must start now. Please take action to help us make this happen.

In Solidarity,

Richard L. Trumka
President, AFL-CIO

P.S. Some politicians claim cuts to our social safety net, deregulation and lower taxes for the rich will fix our problems. But they’re flat wrong. If we continue down this road, it only will destroy more jobs and send us into a vicious downward spiral. Our country is too good and too rich to weaken our commitment to safety net protections such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and unemployment insurance.

We don’t have time to waste on the same old failed policies that drove our economy off a cliff in the first place. Tell Congress: Working families will judge our elected leaders by whether they act with integrity and energy to create good jobs now.

To find out more about the AFL-CIO, please visit our website at www.aflcio.org.

Click here to unsubscribe.