Richard Trumka today:
"This election is about electing economic patriots, and saying no to corporate traitors."
AFL-CIO will be in "every worksite, every neighborhood, every community.... a massive mobilization in 26 states."
Time, The Page
It says it all. Economic patriots and corporate traitors. I know which side I am on.
More Trumka:
"This is a defining Labor Day for working people—and the kick-off to the final round of a defining set of elections," Trumka said.
We will either rebuild a fundamentally different economy that values hard work and a strong middle class—or turn back toward one that puts corporate interests before people.
AFL-CIO: Trumka: Labor Day a Defining Time for Working People
That is the choice we face.
Union volunteers are engaged in a mass mobilization in 26 states and more than 400 races, Trumka said, and they already have distributed nearly 2 million fliers at more than 300 worksites—the prelude to a much bigger fall push.
snip
Trumka summed up the importance of the election this way:
This election is about a lot more than just who comes to Congress in January. It will continue to define who we are as a nation, whether we’re a nation that respects workers and rewards work. And that’s the message we’ll be delivering to working people at every worksite, in every neighborhood and every community.
AFL-CIO: Trumka: Labor Day a Defining Time for Working People
From Arlene Holt Baker of the AFL-CIO, strong support for the 10/2 march on Washington:
"The AFL-CIO is proud to be joining with a diverse coalition of civil rights, religious, human rights, environmental and other progressive organizations as part of One Nation Working Together rally in Washington and across the country on October 2."
Time, The Page
Now a Labor Day message from the people who brought you the weekend:
The AFL-CIO will run TV and radio ads Labor Day weekend in key markets around Major League Baseball games, NASCAR and college football games.
Finally, Barack Obama's Labor Day message from 2009 before the AFL-CIO picnic. He'll be back this year with friends in the AFL-CIO for Labor Day.
Some excerpts:
We remember that the rights and benefits we enjoy today were not simply handed out to America's working men and women. They had to be won.
They had to be fought for, by men and women of courage and conviction, from the factory floors of the Industrial Revolution to the shopping aisles of today's superstores. They stood up and spoke out to demand a fair shake; an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. Many risked their lives. Some gave their lives. Some made it a cause of their lives-like Senator Ted Kennedy, who we remember today.
So let us never forget: much of what we take for granted-the 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, health insurance, paid leave, pensions, Social Security, Medicare-they all bear the union label. It was the American worker-union men and women-who returned from World War II to make our economy the envy of the world. It was labor that helped build the largest middle class in history. So even if you're not a union member, every American owes something to America's labor movement.
As we remember this history, let us reflect on its meaning in our own time. Like so many Americans, you work hard and meet your responsibilities. You play by the rules and pay your bills. But in recent years, the American Dream seemed to slip away, because from Washington to Wall Street, too often a different culture prevailed.
Wealth was valued over work, selfishness over sacrifice, greed over responsibility, the right to organize undermined rather than strengthened.
That's what we saw. And while it may have worked out well for a few at the top, it sure didn't work out well for our country. That culture-and the policies that flowed from it-undermined the middle class and helped create the greatest economic crisis of our time.
So today, on this Labor Day, we reaffirm our commitment. To rebuild.
Obama Labor Day Speech At AFL-CIO Picnic: FULL TEXT
Thank you to all the men and women of organized labor. Organized labor will be there this year to help Democrats prevail. Let's pull together and fight with working people against the corporate traitors and in favor of the economic patriots.
Happy (almost) Labor Day.
Update I: From EVale, a spokesperson for the AFL-CIO, in the comments on Trumka on TV:
he will be (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:TomP
on Olberman tonight at 8:10pm
Dylan Ratigan tomorrow
Tom Hartman & tavis smiley shows tomorrow
Ed Schultz friday
And Secretary-Shuler will be on with Andrea Mitchell on Friday.
How's that :)
www.aflcio.org
by EVale on Wed Sep 01, 2010 at 01:37:34 PM PDT
I assume these are eastern time.