Rich Rogers, Executive Secretary Treasurer
Greater Boston Labor Council
Address to the GBLC Legislative Breakfast, April 7, 2009
Good Morning Brothers and Sisters, Elected Officials, friends of the Greater Boston Labor Council.
As we face the bleakest economy since the Great Depression we need to make one thing clear. Working families aren’t responsible
For this mess.
American workers are the most productive workers in the world. Since 1980 productivity is up %70 while real wages have risen only 5% after inflation. For over a generation work hasn’t been rewarded for the overwhelming majority of America’s families.
The richest 10% of American households now hold 71% of our nations wealth. This economic injustice and inequality is intolerable. Labor has a voice in the wilderness for years on the issue of income inequality. Very few listened to us, and our concern that America was becoming the land of the haves and the have nots, and the diminishment of the labor movement was leading to the disappearance of the middle class.
And now we are paying the price for years of unchecked corporate greed and unregulated markets.
It’s the bankers, the brokers, the hedge fund managers, the CEO’s and other economic elites that have driven our economy to the edge of the cliff.
Through greed, negligence and outright fraud they have put our nation at grave risk. They created financial instruments like derivatives and securitized mortgages that there greatest enabler. Former Federal Reserve Banker Alan Greenspan couldn’t explain recently. The reality is there is very little difference between Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and what these captains of banking and industry have done to all of us.
These folks should be on trial not testifying before Congress!!
They should be in jail not spending their TARP money on golf outings.
As we assess the damage and try to recover one thing is clear. We can’t fix our economy and plug budget deficits solely on the backs of workers. This reality is recognized by the new administration in Washington as President Obama and the Democratic Congress are taking unprecedented action to revive our economy and put American’s back to work.
We need to use the Commonwealth’s portion of the stimulus bill wisely with an emphasis on job retention and job creation.
We need to raise revenues. We must give our municipalities local option taxes on meals and hospitality and we need to have a real debate about gaming. Not like last year’s charade. A real debate about the merits of Resort Casinos.
Nobody has more credibility than labor for sticking with its friends at the ballot box. You take tough votes and we will be there with you. Just remember that last year when the libertarians tried to repeal the income tax it was Labor that defeated them. It was our member’s money and manpower that won the day.
The Taxachusetts label hasn’t been a reality for years. The latest Census Bureau statistics as analyzed by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center show that 35 states’ residents pay a higher portion of their income in taxes than Massachusetts. In the 90’s industry after industry successfully lobbied for tax breaks.
We understand that unlike the Federal Government, Massachusetts doesn’t print money and must live with a balanced budget. We also understand that the Massachusetts Constitution prohibits progressive taxation in the form of graduated income taxes.
But before front line workers are thrown on the street we need to explore management inefficiencies and redundancies. There are also plenty of consulting contracts that need to be closely scrutinized.
We need you to respect the collective bargaining rights of pubic employees. We aren’t naïve or living in denial. We know that no one is going to get through this crisis unscathed. Reforms may be necessary but not if the only changes are on the backs of workers. We don’t need to have the Commonwealth join the race to the bottom that the corporate world has unleashed on workers over the last generation. Protection of health care benefits and pensions are essential.
There are many other ways we can work together for a better future. We urge you not to neglect our mature industries. Manufacturing and the Maritime trades might not have quite the cachet of Bio-Tech but they provide much needed living wage employment Similarly your support of the movie industry helps put union members to work at good wages and benefits.
And we certainly want to see projects that benefit our Commonwealth and our region move forward. Expansion of the Green Line to Medford and infrastructure improvements at UMASS Boston and our community colleges are much needed.
We have the finest trained skilled craftsmen in the world in Greater Boston. Putting building trades workers to work is one surefire way to help us revive our economy.
We will also be looking to you for help in passing statutes that protect and expand worker’s rights. We would like to thank Senator Pat Jehlen and Representative Kay Kahn for their leadership in the effort to make paid sick leave state policy. There is a public health rationale and a moral imperative for Paid Sick Leave legislation and we are ready to fight for this bill at the Greater Boston Labor Council.
The Greater Boston Labor Council will also be working with Mass COSH to pass legislation to create safer alternatives to toxic chemicals. Safer workplaces mean a healthy workforce and increased productivity. A win for everyone.
We will be supporting the Massachusetts AFL-CIO’s legislative agenda that we put inside the package we handed to lawmakers this morning. It’s an agenda that helps working families and we hope you give all these bills close scrutiny and a fair hearing.
And finally we need you to support workers rights to belong to unions free of coercion, harassment and intimidation.
You have done a terrific job in this area over the last several years.
Our unions are using the Majority Authorization bill you passed two years ago. A number of our unions have utilized the bill most recently the AFT, which is in negotiations for the first union contract with a charter school, the Lab Conservatory Charter School a k-5 music school right here in Brighton.
Thank all of you particularly Speaker Deleo and Senator Tolman who shepherded the bill through their respective chambers. This victory has made Massachusetts a beacon of hope as we fight and intend to win passage of the Employee Free Act in Congress.
When we pass the Employee Free Choice Act we will organize new members in Greater Boston and across our Commonwealth by the thousands. As we lift workers wages and benefits our economy will grow, tax coffers will fill up once again and unions power will grow as a much needed counterpoint to the corporate lobby that has promoted economic policies that have brought us to the brink.
There is no better prescription to the social ills of our nation than putting several million more union cards in workers pockets.
That’s why we need all of you to support SEIU 1199 and the Area Trades Council, a coalition of IBEW Local 103, The New England Council of Carpenters, Operating Engineers Local 877, Painters DC 35 and Plumbers Local 12, as they move forward to organize Boston’s Teaching Hospitals. As we speak the workers at ST E’s are voting and we are optimistic that they are on the way to a better life with a union card in their back pocket.
In closing let’s work together to get through these tough times.
Together we can survive this downturn and lead the way to a shared prosperity where everyone is respected and every voice is heard.
Thank You