AFL-CIO and Allies Have List of Quick Actions
For White House ‘Jobs Summit’ on Dec. 3

Leaders of the AFL-CIO and its allies agreed that a prime task before the country is to create jobs for millions of unemployed workers, as they took part in a live TV panel discussion, sponsored by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) on Nov. 17. They emphasized that any delay by Congress in dealing with the job crisis would only make the unemployment problem more acute and leave a grim legacy of hard times for the next generation.

Panelists included AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous; President Janet Murguia of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR); President Wade Henderson of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and Deepack Bhargava, executive director for Community Change. EPI President Larry Mishel served as moderator.

A high point of the discussion was Trumka’s announcement that the AFL-CIO is proposing a 5-step plan that would save or create two million jobs in one year. He listed these five features as criteria:

1. Expand the lifeline for jobless workers by extending unemployment insurance benefits and providing food stamps and other “safety net” features that serve the poor and elderly.

2. Rebuild America’s schools, roads and other crumbling infrastructure facilities.

3. Increase aid to state and local governments so they can maintain vital services and save jobs of needed personnel.

4. Find jobs in communities. There can be many jobs created in run-down towns and villages.

5. Put TARP (the Troubled Assets Relief Program) money (from the original $750 billion bailout fund for Wall Street) to work for Main Street.

Trumka said the coalition will push the White House and Congress to act on these recommendations immediately, starting at President Ocala’s Dec. 3 Job Summit.

What Will Convince Congress to Approve Job-Creating Laws?

Trumka’s five-point program and constructive proposals by labor’s allies will remain just talking points if Congress fails to act on a jobs program, on the grounds that it could be counter-productive, since the economy is heading toward recovery. Republicans will be sure to question the price tag of such an enormous enterprise, conducted by new government bureaucracies. How long will these makeshift jobs last and how long will these job-holders remain dependent on the government for employment? If companies begin to rehire, what will happen to the government-created jobs?

These and lots of other difficult questions will be surely asked by business representatives; and we must have convincing answers.

Then there is President Obama and his economic advisers who thought that his $787 economic stimulus package could take care of the jobs shortage, while he spent time on the difficult domestic and international problems. The $787 economic stimulus fund has saved or created one million jobs, the White House says, and it predicts it will achieve its goal of 3.5 million jobs in two years.. But there are today 20 million people who are unemployed and underemployed. And that doesn’t count the two million Americans who will be entering the labor force and will be looking for decent-paying jobs.

So what will convince Congress to undertake a jobs program not seen since the Great Depression? It is highly doubtful that the torrent of e-mails we have sent our representatives in Congress or the countless telephone calls will have the effect we desire. Our lawmakers do not believe that the situation is as desperate as our fiery rhetoric portrays. In truth, there has not been a single nationwide protest on behalf of millions of working families who have been living without a paycheck for months. If there has been no national protest to draw their attention, why should lawmakers embark on such a colossal and costly job-creating venture?

If the unemployment situation is as bad as Trumka and other leaders say it is (and it really is!), there must be militant demonstrations throughout the country to wake up Washington to create job opportunities for the millions of Americans who have been deprived of their livelihood through no fault of their own. And those demonstrations must continue throughout the country until justice is done.

In countries around the world, working people are fighting against factory closings, privatization and mass layoffs. They go on strike, sometimes for two hours or a day or a week, even on hunger strikes. They hold marches and rallies to gain the support of their communities. They occupy their factories and don’t leave until they get some satisfaction from their employers.

The fight to save jobs is taking place in developed economies like England, Germany and France, and in underdeveloped ones, like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Chile. In Argentina, workers have taken control of their closed factories and are running them at a profit..

Is there anything American workers can learn from their brothers and sisters in other countries?—Harry Kelber

LaborTalk (16) will be posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2009.