By Steve Benen
President Obama recognized Labor Day
by speaking at an AFL-CIO event at a GM plant in Detroit, and the White House billed the event as helping set the stage for Thursday’s Joint Session speech. If that’s true, there’s cause for some optimism about what we’ll hear in the address.
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Obama, appearing rather fired up, spoke at some length about the importance of the labor movement and the role or unions in helping “lay these cornerstones of the American middle class.” He also took some time to highlight his administration’s successes in strengthening the middle class.
But most notably, the president offered “
just a little bit” on the “new way forward” he’ll present to Congress this week. Not surprisingly, details were scarce, but Obama specifically referenced infrastructure investments and the payroll tax cut.
“I’m going to propose ways to put America back to work that both parties can agree to, because I still believe both parties can work together to solve our problems. And given the urgency of this moment, given the hardship that many people are facing, folks have got to get together.
“But we’re not going to wait for them. We’re going to see if we’ve got some straight shooters in Congress. We’re going to see if congressional Republicans will put country before party. We’ll give them a plan, and then we’ll say, ‘Do you want to create jobs? Then put our construction workers back to work rebuilding America. Do you want to help our companies succeed? Open up new markets for them to sell their products. You say you’re the party of tax cuts? Well then, prove you’ll fight just as hard for tax cuts for middle-class families as you do for oil companies and the most affluent Americans. Show us what you got.’
“The time for Washington games is over. The time for action is now. No more manufactured crises. No more games. Now is not the time for the people you sent to Washington to worry about their jobs; now is the time for them to worry about your jobs.”
This is entirely consistent with the strategy that’s been coming together in recent weeks: Obama doesn’t intend to ask Congress to focus on job creation; he intends to
challenge Congress to focus on job creation. If Republicans refuse — as appears all but certain — the point is to start sharing the blame. Obama presented a credible plan with popular ideas, the argument will go, but the GOP didn’t care. “I tried to make the economy better,” the president will argue, “but Republicans refused to work with me.”
morePresident Obama spent Labor Day in Detroit speaking with working families in an event sponsored by the Detroit Central Labor Council. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other top union leaders joined Obama, who
asserted his strong support for workers’ freedom to seek a voice at work through a union.
And I want everybody here to know, as long as I’m in the White House I’m going to stand up for collective bargaining….Because having a voice on the job and a chance to organize and a chance to negotiate for a fair day’s pay after a hard day’s work, that is the right of every man and woman in America–not just the CEO in the corner office, but also the janitor who cleans that office after the CEO goes home. Everybody has got the same right.
Obama blasted efforts by lawmakers to take away workers’ ability to collectively bargain for good middle-class jobs.
When I hear some of these folks trying to take collective bargaining rights away, trying to pass so-called “right to work” laws for private sector workers–that really mean the right to work for less and less and less–when I hear some of this talk I know this is not about economics. This is about politics.
In his remarks, Trumka pointed to Labor Day as the
one time of year when we stop to recognize work. Work — and the people who do it. Think about it. Think about what work means to our lives … and our country. Think about how work connects us all.
And then …say thank you to everyone who works … To the bus drivers who get us to our jobs. To the teachers who educate and encourage our children. To the nurses and doctors who look out for our health. The construction workers who build our cities—and those Secret Service agents keeping our president safe.
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