Minnesotan speaks at Washington news conference on jobs crisis

Bosquez, who has been unemployed since March, joined national AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler and Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker at a press conference Wednesday at AFL-CIO headquarters near the White House.

Trumka unveiled a six-point “America Wants to Work” jobs and economy initiative “that is serious and reflects the scale of the crisis we face.” The plan includes:

• Rebuilding America’s schools and transportation and energy systems;
• Reviving U.S. manufacturing and ending the exportation of U.S. jobs;
• Putting people to work in local communities;
• Helping states and local governments prevent layoffs and cuts to public services;
• Extending unemployment insurance benefits and helping homeowners keep their homes; and
• Reforming Wall Street so it helps Main Street create jobs.

Bosquez, a member of the AFL-CIO community affiliate Working America, is a former retail sales manager with a reputation for boosting sales and cutting costs.

“I have sent out numerous resumes,” she said. “The responses I get back are that hundreds of resumes were received and they didn’t even have time to view them all. That’s scary.”

Bosquez said with her strong work history, she’s never had difficulty finding a job in the past. But she worries that today’s economy is leaving too many people behind.

“It’s clear more must be done to create jobs,” she said.

The workers said they’ve had enough of elected officials who are spending too much time trying to score political points instead of solving the nation’s problems.

“That saddens me that we have officials focused on telling Americans what their colleagues are not doing instead of talking about what they are doing,” Bosquez said. “Basically they’re telling us there is no hope for America. The only one telling us there is hope is the president and I believe him.”

While her Washington visit was short, Bosquez said it was exciting to make her first trip to the nation’s capital. Back in Minnesota, she plans to brief fellow Working America members on what she learned.

Working America is the nation’s fastest growing organization for working families, with more than 3 million members.

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