Despite hopeful numbers on Wall Street, the job situation for most Americans remains bleak – and it’s getting worse.
September brought the 21st straight month of job loss, the worst stretch since 1939. More than 7 million jobs have been lost since the beginning of the recession with little hope that they will ever come back.
The official unemployment rate of 9.8 percent only underestimates the total damage as official records don’t count those who have given up looking for a job, pushing the unofficial rate past 10 percent.
While some leading pundits are now claiming the economy is on the rebound, the reality for most Americans is that they are facing the worst job market since the recession of the early ‘80s.
Complacency in the face of rampant unemployment isn’t an option for union members. Across the United States this fall, members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have taken the lead – working in coalition with other labor unions, community and faith-based groups – in fighting for good jobs.
On October 1, more than 1,000 union members, unemployed workers and neighborhood activists marched through downtown Boston protesting layoffs and the failure of corporate America and policymakers to address the jobs crisis.
Said Boston Local 2222 Business Manager Myles Calvey:
It is not a coincidence that the rally was on the one-year anniversary of the bank bailout. We need our political leaders to focus on making sure every American who wants a job can get one instead of bailing out Wall Street.
Protestors stopped to rally in front of the New England headquarters of Verizon, which recently announced that it was laying off more than 8,000 employees, including more than 150 members of Local 2222.
Dan Manning, a Verizon technician facing an upcoming layoff, told the crowd:
I know these are hard times, but with Verizon there’s no excuse. There is still plenty of work for us to do (and) they have the money, too.
Michigan has been particularly hard hit by the recession, with unemployment topping 15 percent. Many building trade locals have upward of 60 percent of their members sitting on the bench.
Calling on state leaders to "put us to work," nearly 2,000 union members came to Lansing on October 6 to ask Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) take the lead in job creation by approving the construction of clean coal plants, which are expected to create nearly 2,000 construction jobs in hard-hit Northern Michigan.
According to IBEW Representative Jeff Radjewski, one of the speakers at the rally:
We’ve been waiting for over two years for these projects. The plants meet existing environmental standards, and Lansing needs to move so we can put the people of Michigan back to work.
Workers in Minnesota are hopeful that federal and state investments in green energy will help bring new jobs to the Midwest. Union members, community leaders and environmental activists rallied in Duluth on October 1 telling residents to call on their U.S. Senator to get behind new renewable energy legislation which supporters say will create 1.7 million new jobs.
Chris LaForge, a Duluth Local 242 member and owner of Great Northern Solar, told the Duluth News Tribune:
Renewable energy is local. The fuel is free ... the jobs are long-term and multipurpose.