Franken joins labor leaders to support job creation

U.S. Senator Al Franken

The Minnesota Democrat joined AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Karen Nussbaum, executive director of Working America, on a nationwide conference call to address the jobs crisis. Franken and Trumka answered questions from unemployed workers, and members of the media were allowed to listen in.

Franken acknowledged that efforts to pass health insurance reform have delayed Congress from turning its full attention to the jobs crisis. “We just need to focus and do this,” he said.

Economists claim the nation’s recovery from the recession that began in December 2007 is in full swing, but nationwide unemployment stands at 10 percent – higher if you count the under-employed and workers who have given up on looking for jobs. Unemployment in Minnesota stands at 7.4 percent.

The lag in job creation has some dubbing this a “jobless recovery” – an idea Franken called “absurd.”

“A true economic recovery is one that can provide good-paying jobs for middle-class Americans,” he said. “Jobs that will provide real security and protection for working families – that’s what America needs.”

Franken outlined a handful of steps Congress can take to create those jobs, including:

• Giving employers tax credits for hiring new workers.

As an example, Franken pointed to the Minnesota Emergency Employment Development Program, known as MEED. Developed during the farm crisis of the 1980s, MEED provided state subsidies to employers for hiring unemployed workers who had run out of their unemployment benefits. MEED put 42,000 Minnesotans to work, mostly in private-sector jobs.

“It created incentives for businesses, the jump start they needed to start hiring people,” Franken said. “This is a program I think we can take from Minnesota’s past and bring it to Congress.”

• Continuing to invest in public works and infrastructure projects. Franken said he wants Congress to continue to use the stimulus package passed last year to get building trades workers off the bench and back on the job.

“We can’t let our nation fall behind with outdated roads and bridges and public transit,” he said. “Making robust investments in these kinds of projects will get a lot of people back to work and reinvesting in our economy.”

• Investing in green jobs. Franken specifically identified green manufacturing and energy retrofitting as areas where Congress can target its investment for maximum, long-term job creation.

“I’m willing to fight for a strong, broad package, one that will quickly create good-paying jobs,” Franken said. “We’re going to bounce back from this recession, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work, a lot of courage to get there.”

Trumka praised Franken’s commitment to job creation, but he also was direct in his criticism of prevailing economic policies that put the needs of Wall Street before the needs of Main Street.

Trumka spoke of two economies: the real economy and the financial economy. While the real economy “makes things,” he said, the financial economy was designed to provide the financing and credit necessary to support the real economy.

“Somewhere along the line, the financial economy became the master and not the servant,” Trumka said. “While Wall Street is busy cashing their bonus checks, now is the time for us to take immediate action to stabilize the economy for working families on Main Street.”

Trumka pointed to the AFL-CIO’s five-point plan for job creation:

• Extending the lifeline for unemployed workers.
• Rebuilding the nation’s roads, schools and energy systems.
• Increasing federal aid to state and local governments to maintain vital services.
• Putting people to work doing jobs that need to be done, targeting distressed communities.
• Using bank bailout funds to support jobs on Main Street.

Franken agreed that banks need to start lending money to businesses so that they can invest in job creation. “We have successful small businesses that want to expand,” he said. “The banks are holding onto this money, and they’ve got to be told, ‘You’ve got to start lending to small businesses.’”

Working America, the community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, arranged the conference call. The organization of more than 3 million workers is encouraging supporters to sign an online petition calling on Congress to make job creation on Main Street an immediate priority.

Sign the online petition.

Michael Moore edits The Union Advocate, the official publication of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation. Learn more at www.stpaulunions.org