Working In These Times
Trumka Hits Back at Right-Wing ‘Canvas of Cruelty’
The ongoing right-wing assaults on workers’ rights, voting rights of the most socially vulnerable citizens, and public spending for services for the needy and investments in the nation’s future are not just mean and destructive, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said today in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington. They represent moral and practical shortcomings of American politics:
All these incredible events should be understood as part of a single challenge. It is not just a political challenge—it’s a moral challenge. Because these events signal a new and dangerous phase of a concerted effort to change the very nature of America—to turn this into an “I’ve got mine” nation and replace the land of liberty and justice for all with the land of the war of all against all.
Saying that “America’s real deficit is a moral deficit,’ Trumka described the “despicable canvas of cruelty” painted by right-wing politicians:
In Michigan, a state senator thinks foster children should be required by law to purchase second-hand clothes. In Maine, the governor thinks more children should go to work. In North Carolina, the legislature thinks we should balance the state budget on the backs of autistic children. In Arizona, the state Senate president floats the idea of locking up protesting public employees in desert tent city jails. In New York, a billionaire mayor proposes to fire 5,000 teachers rather than tax the bonuses of the Wall Street executives who brought down the American economy.
Unions are fighting back politically, he said, with recall elections for Wisconsin state senators who supported Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-labor legislation and a citizen veto campaign directed at anti-union legislation in Ohio.
Repeating his recent pledges to create “an independent labor movement that builds the power of working people—in the workplace and in political life,” he promised that unions would not support politicians who did not actively fight the attacks on working people:
Working people want a labor movement strong enough to help return balance to our economy, fairness to our tax system, security to our families and moral and economic standing to our nation. Our role is not to build the power of a political party or a candidate. It is to improve the lives of working families and strengthen our country. It doesn’t matter if candidates and parties are controlling the wrecking ball or simply standing aside—the outcome is the same either way. If leaders aren’t blocking the wrecking ball and advancing working families’ interests, working people will not support them. This is where our focus will be—now, in 2012 and beyond.
In a rhetorically hard-hitting speech, Trumka framed the conservative agenda as a betrayal of the idea that is America, “a promise that everyone can be full participants in national life. A promise that we the people make the rules so that hard work is rewarded with economic security and a fair share in the wealth we all help create”:
The attacks on unions and both the poor and middle class are part of a shift in the “national conversation” from creating jobs to cutting public spending and programs that help the vast majority, not because America is too poor to afford them but because the wealth in our society has flowed to a handful among us, and they and the politicians who pander to the worst instincts of the wealthy would rather break promises to our parents and grandparents and deny our children a future than pay their fair share of taxes.
Trumka’s depiction of American history as full of promise to workers (at least as a work in progress) that conservatives are now betraying may work well politically. It paints the right as essentially anti-American. Yet in the process, it somewhat rosily sketches a history that was more often quite brutal and, unfortunately, much more dominated by ideas like those of today’s right than by progressive ideas—for blacks since slavery, for virtually all workers since the rise of modern industrial corporations, despite achievements like the New Deal.
And much as his political threats are welcome, Trumka still has not been able or willing to spell out in concrete terms what labor as an independent political force would do differently.
But the speech was a useful, stirring rejoinder to the right-wing agenda and a reminder to wayward Democrats that some day, some way labor may find meaningful independence in an era where supporting Republicans is not a real alternative.
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Comments
Trumka deserves create for this type of identification of the root of the problem.
It is a problem that connects immoral economic policy and legislation not only to breaching the basic social & moral contract but to an optimally healthy economy according to objective measures.
While the key factors that influence aggregate economic growth and health do change, it is interesting to observe that the GDP growth rates surged to higher levels during the “anti-business” “hostile to business” “disincentives to businesses” policy decades of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and experienced a strong upward trend during the Clinton 90s.
The GDP growth rates at the times of the “pro business” and “get government off the peoples back” decades of Reagan, Bush Part 1, and Bush Part 2 are
not as strong. For Bush Part 2 and its massive tax cut for the wealthiest, the aggregate economic benefits are especially unimpressive.
Take a look at the chart.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-growth .
The 50s, 60s, and 70s were also the periods when Europe, the North America and Asia did not have “free trade”.
The 2001 tax cuts have remained in place for 10 years while the unemployment rate at all levels climbed and remained unusually unhealthy at the tail part of the Bush Part 2 administration and ever since. Nice legacy.
“Pro business” “making America competive” policies really took care of us. Can you feel the rising tide lifting all boats? How about your purchasing power for a gallon of gas in 1999 vs. 2011?
Very tragically, Democrats and progressives seemed to get censored into giving only infrequent and bland arguments about the proper balance between regulation, HONEST shared sacrifice (the type of progressive tax code that existed prior to Reagan administrations and those of the Bushes Part 1 and 2), worker bargaining freedoms, and
related issues.
The Republican state and Federal level legislative and policy efforts, since the Nov. 2010 blackmail to extend the Bush tax cuts for the richest Americans, has been to attempt to move the American economic and business system at a sprint pace backward from the imperfect yet still dramatically better balanced managed capitalist system that developed since the New Deal began to yield its benefits.
Another crux of the problem now is that there is still a sufficient number of voters at the middle and low income levels who either are willing to be bribed or blackmailed by McCarthyist employers into voting for politicians that enact policies that shrink the pool of jobs, shrink purchasing power, increase the average level of worker exploitation and abuse, and provide taxpayer subsidies (welfare) to high level executives and investment firms that own the largest blocks of stock in large corporations.
These voters have concluded that these problems may happen to the other guy but “won’t happen to me as long as I play along and do what the boss wants.” I think that there are voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Florida who are realizing that that belief is not true.
When you look at the chart that furnishes the history of US GDP growth rates, switch the year from the dialog box at the far left of the chart from 2007 to 1947 or 1950.
The next piece of information is also interesting.
Germany is ranked 23rd, Switzerland is ranked 9th, and Canada is ranked 7th in the Heritage Foundation rankings of the most economically free countries in the world. The United States is ranked 5th. The Heritage Foundation translates economically freedom to mean “pro business” “pro Reagan supply side/trickle down economics.” These
are the economic and labor policies pursued by John Boehner/Paul Ryan/Rick Snyder, etc.
Mercer Consulting in 2010 issued quality of living rankings for the top 5 cities in each major geographical area of the world. In Europe, all of the top 5 cities were located in Germany (3 cities because 2 German cities tied for 5th in Europe and 7TH!!! place in the world) and Switzerland.
In South America and North America combined, all 5 cities were located in Canada. There were no cities in the top 5 from the U.S. even though it is the most superior for its “economic freedom.”
Obviously, I use the word “superior” sarcastically because quality of life measure are a lot more honest and accurate measure of “freedom” than ideological economic factors that favor the countries most similar to feudal Europe from 100s of years ago.
Pardon my temporary geographical misunderstanding.
The 3 nonGerman cities in the top 5 Mercer quality of life rankings for Europe were Vienna, Austria (#1 in Europe and the World) Geneva, Switzerland and Zurich, Switzerland.
Predictably, Austria is ranked 30th in the Heritage Foundation index of economic freedom because it must be substantially the opposite of feudal Europe and the business trust era of the early 1900s United States. “Oppressively” regulated, “anti-business” Austria is the 12th wealthiest country in the world (according to its GDP).
The Heritage Foundation
The last use of the “The Heritage Foundation”, above, is unintentional.
Where is the outrage in America, when large corporations can demand concessions from hourly workers while simultaneously increasing already exorbitant bonuses for top executives?
Where is the outrage when the privileged few on Wall Street can gamble away for their own gain, our childrens’ future without consequence?
Where is the outrage when these same ego maniacal titans of Wall Street can “thumb their noses” at the American justice system and deliberately lie to our Congress with relative impunity.
There appeared to be a sliver of hope for America at the onset of the financial meltdown. The plutocrats were worried and shocked as the American people began actually protesting in their own exclusive neighborhoods. They appeared to be in disbelief that ordinary Americans would question or disapprove of them, the privileged. These thieves of Wall Street knew they had to find a way to redirect the public’s rage. We all know what happened after that.
Labor became the new target of America’s rage. The wealthy have been able to manipulate the public and pit worker against worker. They have portrayed government and union workers as overpaid freeloaders by misrepresenting every aspect of the truth. The privileged have once again used their influence to divide the masses.
Unfortunately, organized labor has failed to regain its footing even with recent favorable NLRB changes. My suggestion to Mr. Trumka would be for us to enlist the Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders as the lynch pin for a new progressive movement. Mr. Sanders has never waivered in his support for the working class and I feel he is a man of honor.
Man of honor, now that’s a novel idea in today’s political arena.
We need to find a middle ground between republicans and democrats… one day this side does something good, the next day the other…