What I Do
IBEW keeps San Francisco's cable cars running.
IBEW keeps San Francisco's cable cars running.
Thank you, Ed [Coyle], for your introduction and for inviting me to your leadership conference. I want to welcome all of you to the House of Labor, and thank all of you for attending. Allow me also to take this opportunity to offer a heartfelt “congratulations” for those of you who are new retirees, and to thank you for staying in the fight!
So let’s hear it for the new and future leaders of the Alliance!
The other day, a union member asked me why we—the AFL-CIO--are fighting against the Chained CPI and against cuts to Medicare. I have to admit, I was a little bit put back by the question, but after some thought I was glad to be asked, because I don’t think we articulate this point enough: As America’s labor movement, we advocate for the whole person, the entire length and breadth of a worker’s life.
That’s why we support quality public education, a clean environment and high-quality, afford-able health care. That’s why we demand safe jobs for all workers, because not all of us can find employment in a union workplace. And that’s why we support Social Security and Medicare--because they are keys to dignity, security and sustainability for ourselves, our families and our communities.
And all of this comes back to our core values. We believe in treating people right. And we know we, as a nation, can afford to do it.
America’s so-called fiscal-crisis is a manufactured crisis. It shouldn’t force us to make drastic and destructive cuts to the social safety net. The push to austerity is founded on a falsehood—the idea that America is poor. America’s not broke, but something sure is broken in America when an average CEO makes $12.3 million a year—354 times the average workers’ pay, while essential government functions go unfunded, while government workers are furloughed, and while cuts to Social Security and Medicare are discussed by both Democrats and Republicans.
We all need to do what you’re doing -- like reaching out to our communities the way you do --you’re helping your members to go places like senior centers and other community meeting places. And I am encouraged to hear of the Alliance’s continued growth, of your work in the field most recently on chained CPI and of course I must mention your phenomenal efforts in 2012 in the races for the presidency and the U.S. Senate.
Quite frankly, I admire the way you’ve targeted non-union retirees and emerging retirees, so they can pursue the issues that matter to them, and so they can be brought into activist retirement for working family issues.
I applaud all of you for the work you’ve done. I hope you enjoy the conference, and that you leave with new skills, and with new energy. I believe the workshops on media training, and radio and television skills in particular, are absolutely critical. It’s so important for us to talk to as wide an audience as we can.
So once again, welcome. Thank you, and God bless you.
