We in the labor movement have to challenge ourselves to make our institutions into a voice for all working people. And we need to begin with jobs. Eleven million missing jobs is not tolerable. That’s why we are fighting for the AFL-CIO‘s five point jobs program-extending unemployment benefits， including COBRA health benefits for unemployed workers； expanding federal infrastructure and green jobs investments； dramatically increasing federal aid to state and local governments facing fiscal disaster； creating jobs directly， especially in distressed communities； and finally， lending TARP money to small and medium sized businesses that can’t get credit because of the financial crisis.
As we meet tonight， organizers working for the AFL-CIO‘s 3 million- member community affiliate Working America are knocking on doors across our country talking jobs. We are organizing support for George Miller’s Local Jobs for America Act that would target $100 billion in job creation dollars toward our country‘s hardest hit communities-to keep teachers in the classroom and first responders on the job， and to create new jobs where Wall Street destroyed them. We are organizing support for financial reform and accountability for Wall Street. We are working to counter the Glenn Beck effect and turn anger into action for real change.
But we are not just talking about how to create jobs， we are talking about how to pay for them. Wall Street should pay to clean up the mess they made， and we are supporting four ways for the big banks to pay-President Obama’s bank tax， a special tax on bank bonuses， closing the carried interest tax loophole for hedge funds and private equity， and most important， a financial speculation tax levied on all financial transactions-including derivatives- that would raise over $150 billion a year， according to the CongressionalBudget Office. The financial speculation tax would have negligible impact on long-term investors， but would discourage the short termism in the capital markets that led to so much destruction over the last decade.
When it comes to creating jobs， some in Washington say： Go slow- take half steps， don‘t spend real money. Those voices are harming millions of unemployed Americans and their families-and they are jeopardizing our economic recovery. It is responsible to have a plan for paying for job creation over time. But it is bad economics and suicidal politics not to aggressively address the job crisis at a time of stubbornly high unemployment. In fact， budget deficits over the medium and long term will be worse if we allow the economy to slide into a long job stagnation unemployed workers don’t pay taxes and they don‘t go shopping； businesses without customers don’t hire workers， they don‘t invest and they also don’t pay taxes.
But we must do much more to restore broadly shared prosperity.
We must take action to restore workers‘ voices. The systematic silencing of America’s workers by denying their freedom to form unions is at the heart of the disappearance of good jobs in America. We must pass the Employee Free Choice Act so that workers can have the chance to turn bad jobs into good jobs， and so we can reduce the inequality which is undermining our country‘s prospects for stable economic growth.
We must have an agenda for restoring American manufacturing-a combination of fair trade and currency policies， worker training， infrastructure investment and regional development policies targeted to help economically distressed areas. We cannot be a prosperous middle class society in a dynamic global economy without a healthy manufacturing sector.
We must have an agenda to address the daily challenges workers face on the job to ensure safe and healthy workplaces and family-friendly work rules.
And we need comprehensive reform of our immigration policy based onending exploitation and securing fairness， working for an America where there are no second class workers.
Each of these initiatives should be rooted in a crucial alliance of the middle class and the poor-the majority of the American people. And those of us in the labor movement know that we can only achieve these great things if we work together with community partners who share our goals， and with government leaders who share our vision.
Government that acted in the interests of the majority of Americans has produced our greatest achievements. The New Deal. The Great Society and the Civil Rights movement-Social Security， Medicare， the minimum wage and the forty-hour work week， and the Voting Rights Act. This is what made the United States a beacon of hope in a confused and divided world. In the end， I believe the health care bill signed into law last month is an achievement on this order， one we can continue to improve upon to secure health care for all.
But too many thought leaders have become the servants of a different kind of politics-a politics that sees middle-class Americans as overpaid and underworked. That sees Social Security as a problem rather than the only piece of our retirement system that actually works. A mentality that feels sorry for homeless people， but fails to see the connections between downsizing， outsourcing， inequality and homelessness. A mentality that sees mass unemployment as something that will take care of itself， eventually.
We need to return to a different vision.
President Obama said in his inaugural address， “The state of the economy calls for action， bold and swift， and we will act-not only to create new jobs， but to lay a new foundation for growth.” Now is the time to make good on these words for Congress， for President Obama and for the American people.
These are big challenges. But it is long past time to take them on. Ifyou are worried about the anger in our country， if you don’t want the forces of hatred to grow， be a part of the fight for economic justice and a new economic foundation for America.
