U.S. economic and trade policies over the past three decades have led to jobs lost offshore and a shrinking middle class, and the United States must address this economic bleed through trade policies and investment in infrastructure and manufacturing, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said today.

Speaking today to the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka spelled out a comprehensive new vision for global trade and investment policies to create a global economy that is good for working people, the middle class and democracy—both here in the United States and around the world.

This is a cross-post by David Groves at the Washington State Labor Council.

Legislation before the Washington State Legislature—pushed by multinational corporations and the notorious billionaire Koch brothers—urging Congress to pass the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has died without a vote in the state Senate. Senate Joint Memorial 8006, sponsored by Sen. Val Stevens (R-Arlington), failed to survive Monday’s cutoff deadline for legislation to pass from its house of origin. Though it could be revived through extraordinary procedural means, it is effectively dead for the session.

Leveling the playing field by enforcing our trade laws against  currency manipulation is a no-cost action that will create jobs, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said today.

The House leadership continues to show its “blatant lack of concern for American workers who have lost their jobs because of unfair trade deals,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said today. In the latest bold move against working people, House leaders abruptly refused to schedule a vote yesterday on extending expiring Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs.

In the global economic race, the United States is coming in second—and one of the major reasons is that we have stopped making things in this country. A recent poll shows the public thinks it’s going to be that way for awhile. Only one in five Americans say the U.S. economy is the world’s strongest. Nearly half (47 percent) say China’s economy is stronger and only one in three expects the United States to regain the top spot in the next 20 years. Nearly three-fifths of those surveyed say that increasing competition from lower-paid workers around the world will keep living standards for average Americans from growing as fast as they did in the past.