The AFL-CIO and Change to Win on Labor Day (get a pro-working family Congr

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/4102

The AFL-CIO and Change to Win on Labor Day - 09/04/06

Lead: Labor Day 2006 finds working families in the U.S. struggling economically as both the AFL-CIO and the Change To Win Federation
are making massive political efforts to turn things around. Doug Cunningham reports.

By Doug Cunningham

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says the economy will be the main political issue for workers nationwide who have been left out of the economic recovery.

: “Workers are not sharing in the wealth. This Labor Day it appears that a perfect storm is gathering that may well sweep away Republican control of the Congress this fall. We will play the largest role we’ve ever played in electing the candidates we’ve endorsed.”

Teamsters President James Hoffa says his union and the Change To Win federation will also be very active in the political campaign this fall and labor’s political power, he says, will not be weakened by the split with the AFL-CIO.

: “We’re gonna to coordinate with the AF of L-CIO. I mean, we have our differences with them. But we also realize that we have to work together to get a pro-working family Congress.”

[GOPBasher]

1. If they asked me, I think this should be their central message.

Of course, why the hell would they ask me for my opinion? I'm no expert in anything, but I'll give my opinion anyway.

They should say, "The economy has grown at a brisk rate these past five years, but it's leaving 99% of Americans behind. Wages continue to be stagnant in the face of high inflation. Thus, real wages have fallen dramatically in the past five years, despite the economic growth. All the benefits of the expanding economy have gone to the top 1% of the people."

Just my two cents. Actually, Sweeney seemed to allude to that point in that piece. I just hope that's their central message that they pound into the psyche of America. Because, as we've seen, the GOP keeps pointing to the growth in the GDP as evidence that all is well in America. We need to point out why that's totally false.