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Executive Council Statement

Time for a High-Wage Economic Strategy

… of the stagnation of wages and incomes that has crippled the American middle class for more than a generation.  If we want to fix what is wrong with our economy, we must organize workers and raise wages.  We have no choice but to abandon the … the experience of working people in this country and in other countries around the world that only when workers have the right to effectively organize and collectively bargain, in a manner that creates economy-wide impact, do societies enjoy … economic strategy requires a fundamental rethinking of macroeconomic policy.  Specifically, we must put American back to work and make full employment the lodestar of all of our policymaking; forge a new model for engagement with the global …
Executive Council Statement

Honoring Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis

… U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis brought urgently needed change to the Department of Labor, putting the U.S. government firmly on the side of working families.  As the 25th secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis brought a new level of energy and commitment to a department that had languished during eight years of Republican control.  Under Secretary Solis, the Labor Department vigorously enforced laws designed to protect worker safety, wage and hour standards and retirement security. Secretary Solis crisscrossed the country defending …
Speech

Trumka 2013 AFL-CIO Convention Keynote

… this great hall. Look at the power represented in this hall. And so the real question for this week is, what are we going to do with it? Do we intend to build an American future, a future for the 99% -- a future for our children and grandchildren … you had a real good shot at reaching the middle class—that the working class was the middle class. And that you might work in a coal mine or a hotel laundry, but your children could do anything if they worked hard enough. This is the story of … people’s incomes had increased like CEO’s. Almost no one would live in poverty. It is time, my friends, to turn America right side up. And to turn America right side up, we need a real working class movement. And if that’s going to happen, we -- …
Speech

Trumka to IBEW: Political Independence Critical

… Thank you, Jim [Ross], for your kind introduction and also for inviting me to speak here with all of you. We are gathered together at a critical moment for the IBEW, for the AFL-CIO and the entire … the stupid games of the Republican leadership… and yet we can’t tune them out, because we’re the ones who always get hurt. Right now, House Speaker John Boehner is trying to score a political victory while the federal workers who make America run … not stand down. Sisters and brothers… friends… at the end of the day, our job is simply to make the lives of people who work better. I think about the regular people all over this country who get up and do a job… who take care of their kids… and …
Speech

Trumka to SAG-AFTRA Convention: We Are All Connected

… Thank you, Ken [Howard], for that generous introduction. And thank you for inviting me. I'm glad to be here with all of you, for your first convention as SAG-AFTRA. And let me start by recognizing the strategic insight and … organizing in the music video industry – it’s new, it’s creative, and it’s about time! And there are more examples -- your work at American Public Media, and the depth of your penetration in the world of audio books. Don't get me wrong, the job of … and prepare for negotiations. That's why we struggle for our rights on the job, and that includes fighting against right-to-work-for-less, in every state where it encourages workers to freeload off the hard work and organization of others. …
Speech

Trumka to TWU Convention: Workers Must Break the Isolation

… Thank you, Harry [Lombardo]. I want to congratulate you on winning the presidency of this powerful union. A union with a proud past and – I can feel it in this … over America are isolated from each other. It’s time to break the isolation. That's how solidarity starts. The corporate right-wing knows how to pressure us, how to pit us against each other, plant seeds of insecurity. We can't react to that … creates more value, over longer hours, and yet most of us earn less. Think back over the last 15 years—think of all the work you did, all your co-workers did, all your friends and neighbors and family did. All of the wage increases over the last …
Executive Council Statement

No More Manufactured Crises—Disarm the Hostage Takers

… Republicans in Congress once again are threatening to harm the economy unless Democrats agree to cut Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits. We urge President Obama … we focus on the urgent challenge of fixing the economy, raising wages, investing in our people and putting America back to work. Republican leaders are threatening to harm the economy by letting automatic across-the-board budget cuts—called … House Democrats signed a letter pledging opposition to any Social Security, Medicaid or Medicare benefit cuts. This is the right approach. It is time to put these manufactured crises behind us and focus instead on the urgent business of putting …