Labor & Employment Law

California Union Members Host First-Ever Economic Recovery Summit

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California Labor Federation Communications Director Steve Smith tells us how California union members are taking the lead in moving the state toward economic recovery.

The solution to California’s unprecedented economic crisis can be summed up in three words: jobs, jobs, jobs. That was the message this week in Sacramento as the California Labor Federation brought together state and national economic experts with union members and leaders for a first-of-its-kind economic recovery summit to develop an action plan to create jobs and rebuild the California economy.

With unemployment in California hitting a post World War II record of 12.5 percent, summit participants said the state must act immediately to address the growing crisis.

California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski:

History teaches us that in times of severe economic hardship, the creation of good jobs to lift people up is the only path to a sustained recovery. It’s time we prioritized investment in putting California back to work. Each day we delay, families suffer, businesses close and our future as a state dims.

At the summit, California labor leaders unveiled a new five-point Economic Recovery Agenda, highlighting areas that need to be addressed in order to get California’s economy and workforce back on track:

• Rebuilding California’s crumbling infrastructure, which has been sorely neglected and is deteriorating due to severe budget cuts. Investing in projects like building a high-speed rail, retrofitting and weatherizing public buildings, creating a maritime highway, and expanding broadband access will create sustainable, year-round jobs, advance the public interest, and attract new businesses to California.
• Investing in a 21st century workforce, which will provide businesses and government with a trained and skilled workforce ready to embrace the jobs of the future, while also providing today’s workers with skills, good wages and benefits to grow and prosper tomorrow.
• Enacting a Middle Class Bill of Rights, calling on the state to provide adequate funding for public safety, education, health care and other vital services families depend upon. A Middle Class Bill of Rights also demands that big corporations pay their fair share to ensure the revenue is available to provide the services that families need.
• Repairing the state’s safety net, which provides essential services to workers who have been laid off, injured or disabled, along with seniors, children and other vulnerable Californians.
• Developing and implementing a strong economic vision for a sustainable economy that’s based on rebuilding our middle class through good jobs and a voice at work. In addition to shoring up traditional sectors, California needs to attract new and diverse enterprises, those that capitalize on the 21st century economy and new, green technologies.

Speakers at the Summit focused not only on the urgency of solving California’s jobs crisis, but also the enormous opportunities to take advantage of emerging industries like green jobs. Speakers included Nathan Newman of the Progressive States Network, Maurice Emsellem from the National Employment Law Project, Greg LeRoy at Good Jobs First, University of Southern California Professor Manuel Pastor, UC Berkeley Professor Harley Shaiken and Elena Foshay of the Apollo Alliance.

Elena Foshay of the Apollo Alliance said:

California has been an innovative leader in investing green energy, but there’s still a lot more that needs to be done. By building green career pathways, we can ensure all Californians have the basic skills they need to enter the workforce, along with access to the necessary training to prepare them for new, clean energy jobs.

According to Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, green jobs aren’t always good jobs, but unionization is a strong indicator of a good, green job. To ensure the green jobs of the future will benefit both workers and the economy, we need to restore workers’ rights to form and join unions by passing the Employee Free Choice Act.

As UC Berkeley Professor Harley Shaiken put it:

Strong unions have historically forged the link between economic recovery and broadly shared prosperity. But today, that link is fractured. The Employee Free Choice Act is truly part of long-term economic recovery package, because vibrant, strong unions, working with management that want to see our economy succeed, provide that link between a growing economy and well-being for workers, families and communities.

Visit www.calaborfed.org to learn more.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on December 03, 2009 (boomark / email).