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Overview

Overview. Review where we are and how we got here A Main Street Recovery Program Introduce you to the USW “Make our Future Work” campaign Ask you to join us in rebuilding the American Economy. 2. Economic Policies Matter. The “New Economy”:

chandler-nelson
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Overview

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  1. Overview Review where we are and how we got here A Main Street Recovery Program Introduce you to the USW “Make our Future Work” campaign Ask you to join us in rebuilding the American Economy 2

  2. Economic Policies Matter The “New Economy”: Free markets andindividual self-interest should drive theeconomy Government policies should favor corporations and the wealthy Free trade and deregulation make us all better off Prosperity will trickle down Main Street Economics: The market is neither free nor perfect The government can help overcome market imperfections Regulation and Fair Trade are needed Economic growth is based on the prosperity of working families 3

  3. They Had a Plan…For nearly 30 years, conservative economic ideas focused on the free market have dominated Washington… The Result…Deregulation, De-unionization, Globalization, Privatization There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning. Warren Buffett, November 26, 2006 New York Times 4

  4. Wall Street Grows… Main Street Shrinks Manufacturing and Financial Sectors as a Percentage of GDP

  5. Trading Away Our Future US Trade Deficit as a Percentage of GDP 1960-2004 In 1997, China produced 14% of the world’s steel; in 2007, it produced 36%. Foreigners now hold $14 trillion of U.S. debt.

  6. The Bubble has Burst

  7. Wall Street Infects Main Street Homeowners in trouble A quarter of homeowners have mortgages now exceeding the value of the home Producers scrambling for financing The rate at which most the average USW employer can borrow money has gone from 8% to 22% Entire industries in jeopardy Analysts project a 30% decline in new car sales in 2009 We have been losing 67,000 jobs a month! 8

  8. Losing the Power to Get Our Fair Share Wages Productivity Unionization Rate 1947: 32% Unionization Rate 2004: 7.9% 1970 1990 1947 1950 1960 1980 2000 2004

  9. The Rich Get Richer Household Wealth 1976-2005 Bottom 90% 51% Richest 10% 49% Bottom 90% 27% Today, the bottom 50% have only 3% of the wealth. Richest 10% 73%

  10. The Result This was never sustainable • Lost our power to get our fair share • Manufacturing sector smaller than financial sector • Twelve thousand manufacturing jobs lost a month since 1980; 60,000 a month since last May • Wealthiest 10 percent of Americans control 75% of the wealth, up from 1976 when they controlled 50% • Record levels of debt

  11. What Has Been Done? $8 trillioninWelfare for the Rich 12

  12. “This crisis is a direct result of the greed and irresponsibility that have dominated Washington and Wall Street for years… It’s the result of an economic philosophy that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else... This crisis is the final verdict on this failed philosophy – a philosophy that we cannot afford to continue.” President-elect Obama

  13. This crisis gives us an opportunity to build a stronger union, a stronger country and an economy in which prosperity is shared by all.

  14. President Obama calls us to “pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

  15. Now We Have a Plan

  16. It’s Based on a Simple Idea… We all do better when we all do better. Paul Wellstone, Minnesota Senator 1990-2002 A strong middle class is not the problem. A strong middle class is the answer to the economic crisis…

  17. Health Care Reform Re-regulate Financial Sector To Make our Future Work… Main Street Recovery Program Mortgage Relief Employee Free Choice Act Fair Trade Progressive Taxes

  18. First Things First • A Main Street Recovery Plan that keeps our tax dollars at home • Employee Free Choice Act so that workers can have the power to get their fair share

  19. Renewing America Job Creation at Home Main Street Recovery Plan Buy America

  20. Main Street Recovery Plan Commit a MINIMUM of 3% of GDP for two years - $900 Billion • Green Investment - Accelerate the development of a low carbon economy • Infrastructure- Repair and modernize our crumbling roads, bridges and airports • Investment in Education - Ensure that all Americans can afford to go to college • Aid to Those in Need – Those at the bottom suffer most and we must help them • Buy American – Make sure that the jobs that are created stay at home. The Plan must be Properly Designed and Implemented

  21. The Plan must be Properly Designed and Implemented:

  22. Rebuilding the Middle Class Rebuild the Middle Class Job Creation at Home Main Street Recovery Plan Employee Free Choice Act Buy America

  23. The Employee Free Choice Act is about the most fundamental American values … democracy and choice. It is about workers deciding how their work lives will be governed. It is about workers having a voice in the rebuilding of their communities, their workplaces and their country.

  24. The Employee Free Choice ActRestoring the Balance of Power • Puts decisions about recognition in the hands of workers • Workers get to choose whether recognition will be based on card check recognition or secret ballot • Strengthens protections for workers: • Imposes real penalties for employers violating the law • Supports negotiation of first labor-management agreement: • Establishes mediation and binding arbitration when the employer and workers cannot agree on a first contract

  25. Rebuilding the Middle Class Source: U.S. Dept. of Labor, BLS, Jan. 2007

  26. We All Benefit When Union Density Increases “I regard the growth of collective bargaining as essential….” J.M. Keynes (economist) in letter to President Roosevelt, February 1, 1938

  27. Corporations Deny Employees the Freedom to Gain a Better Life Harassed Fired * 33% never agree to a contract Threatened * 25% illegally fire at least one worker for union activity

  28. The Opposition

  29. Keeping the Promise of America The Promise of America Rebuild the Middle Class Job Creation at Home Main Street Recovery Plan Employee Free Choice Act Buy America

  30. Why This Will Work • Infrastructure spending immediately injects money into the economy • With a strong buy American program, jobs will be created at home • Money spent here will multiply throughout the economy supporting all sectors • Employee Free Choice Act will ensure that working Americans have the right to collectively bargain for their fair share • Money to those at the bottom will all be spent These investments in our infrastructure, our communities and our people will make our entire economy more competitive and prosperous.

  31. Bringing Change to Washington: The Action Plan "Our nettlesome task is to discover how to organize our strength into compelling power." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

  32. Mobilizing Organizing Lobbying

  33. Information 34

  34. Join in the Campaign…Questions and Comments "Change happens because the American people demand it—because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time. America, this is one of those moments.” President Barack Obama

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