But before they could even think about next year and beyond, they had to deal with an immediate problem, sure to be discussed at the AFL-CIO Executive Council’s post-election meeting in D.C. on Nov. 9: What to do about the “lame duck” session of the 112th Congress and the nation’s “fiscal cliff” that lawmakers are supposed to avoid.
“Starting tomorrow – Yes, I said tomorrow! – working families will be more out in communities at close to 100 events to talk to members of Congress about the coming lame duck session and fiscal showdown,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka declared on Nov. 7.
“We will send the message that it’s time to say ‘no’ to benefit cuts for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and ‘yes’ to fair taxes on America’s wealthiest 2%. It’s time to rebuild America’s middle class, not tear it down.”
If Congress does nothing, a mix of tax hikes – on workers and on the rich – and billions of dollars of cuts in domestic and defense programs are scheduled to kick in starting on Jan. 1. They include restoration of the full payroll tax needed to fund Social Security and Medicare, taking dollars from workers’ present paychecks.
The economic jolt is so huge that analysts of all political stripes contend it would throw the U.S. back into recession. Labor agrees. It’s pushing to raise taxes on the rich and to create jobs, especially in manufacturing and infrastructure, Trumka said.
And “it is time for our nation to move forward and continue the fight for economic and social justice for all Americans,” Amalgamated Transit Union President Larry Hanley said in a statement.
But beyond that immediate problem of the fiscal cliff, union leaders say labor has other priorities down the road. Some of them are:
- Trumka said “labor law reform,” type unspecified, will always be the union movement’s #1 priority. Obama promised to sign the Employee Free Choice Act, labor’s top legislative priority, during his first term. The measure would have leveled the playing field between workers and bosses in organizing drives and in bargaining, and increased penalties for labor law-breaking. But Obama never pushed it, upsetting leaders and members.
- AFT President Randi Weingarten and Service Employees Secretary-Treasurer Eliseo Medina each placed comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to legal residence – and labor law protection – for undocumented workers high on next year’s “to do” list. “ We don’t want promises; we don’t want debates. We expect action,” Medina said.
- American Federation of Government Employees President J. David Cox expects Obama to propose a pay raise – the first several years – for federal workers. And he sent lawmakers a message to stop forcing feds to hand over ever-increasing shares of their pay to fund future pensions, just to lower the amount of federal red ink. Federal pension funds are overfunded and flush with cash. “We’re not your ATM,” Cox warned Congress.
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But before they could even think about next year and beyond, they had to deal with an immediate problem, sure to be discussed at the AFL-CIO Executive Council’s post-election meeting in D.C. on Nov. 9: What to do about the “lame duck” session of the 112th Congress and the nation’s “fiscal cliff” that lawmakers are supposed to avoid.
“Starting tomorrow – Yes, I said tomorrow! – working families will be more out in communities at close to 100 events to talk to members of Congress about the coming lame duck session and fiscal showdown,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka declared on Nov. 7.
“We will send the message that it’s time to say ‘no’ to benefit cuts for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and ‘yes’ to fair taxes on America’s wealthiest 2%. It’s time to rebuild America’s middle class, not tear it down.”
If Congress does nothing, a mix of tax hikes – on workers and on the rich – and billions of dollars of cuts in domestic and defense programs are scheduled to kick in starting on Jan. 1. They include restoration of the full payroll tax needed to fund Social Security and Medicare, taking dollars from workers’ present paychecks.
The economic jolt is so huge that analysts of all political stripes contend it would throw the U.S. back into recession. Labor agrees. It’s pushing to raise taxes on the rich and to create jobs, especially in manufacturing and infrastructure, Trumka said.
And “it is time for our nation to move forward and continue the fight for economic and social justice for all Americans,” Amalgamated Transit Union President Larry Hanley said in a statement.
But beyond that immediate problem of the fiscal cliff, union leaders say labor has other priorities down the road. Some of them are:
- Trumka said “labor law reform,” type unspecified, will always be the union movement’s #1 priority. Obama promised to sign the Employee Free Choice Act, labor’s top legislative priority, during his first term. The measure would have leveled the playing field between workers and bosses in organizing drives and in bargaining, and increased penalties for labor law-breaking. But Obama never pushed it, upsetting leaders and members.
- AFT President Randi Weingarten and Service Employees Secretary-Treasurer Eliseo Medina each placed comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to legal residence – and labor law protection – for undocumented workers high on next year’s “to do” list. “ We don’t want promises; we don’t want debates. We expect action,” Medina said.
- American Federation of Government Employees President J. David Cox expects Obama to propose a pay raise – the first several years – for federal workers. And he sent lawmakers a message to stop forcing feds to hand over ever-increasing shares of their pay to fund future pensions, just to lower the amount of federal red ink. Federal pension funds are overfunded and flush with cash. “We’re not your ATM,” Cox warned Congress.
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.