http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-bottari/welcome-mr-president-but_b_706115.htmlMILWAUKEE. -- For many Americans Lavern and Shirley remain the enduring icons of the city of Milwaukee. Barack Obama was a teenager when the sitcom about two independent young women working in a beer factory was a popular hit in the late 1970s. But the sad truth about Milwaukee is that Lavern and Shirley don't work here any more.
After 30 years of deindustrialization, Milwaukee is a shell of its former self and the Great Recession has left the city reeling. Into this mix on Monday, steps President Obama, here to celebrate Labor Day in a city where labor is on the rack
The job situation in city and across the great state of Wisconsin is disastrous. 796,000 people in the Milwaukee area are out of work. A statewide jobs report indicates that one in five jobs were lost since the recession began in 2007. A quarter of black workers are unemployed, numbers not rivalled since the Great Depression.
The assault on wages continues as profitable companies squeeze even more concessions of their workforce. Marching in the Labor Day parade with President this year are the 140 remaining members of United Electrical Local 111. This will be the last march Labor Day march for this 73 year-old local. It was founded in 1937 and at it's height represented some 6,5000 Allen-Bradley employees. But the company (now called Rockwell) is intent on moving production overseas and contracting out the remaining tasks to nonunionized workers even though it tripled its global profits in 2009.
Milwaukee's flagship manufacturer, Harley-Davidson, is threatening to move out of its longtime home in the Milwaukee are to Kansas City, Missouri. Even though the firm was profiled recently in the Wall Street Journal for its "soaring profits," Harley wants to carve $50 million dollars of its payroll off the backs of its 2, 000 workers. The company slogan "the road starts here" is not as inspiring when it is the low road of cut wages and benefits.
What does Milwaukee need? "Massive investment in the economy," says Wisconsin AFL-CIO president David Newby who will welcome President Obama to the Milwaukee Labor Fest on Monday.
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