AFL-CIO leaders Richard Trumka (president), Liz Shuler (secretary-treasurer) and Tefere Gebre (executive vice president), travelled the country on Monday, US Labor Day.
Delivering speeches bashing arch reactionary Donald Trump while obsequiously endorsing imperialist warmonger Hillary Clinton, the US trade union leaders said their purpose was ‘to celebrate working people and their accomplishments and to discuss the issues we care about most this election season’.
Trumka joined Clinton and vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine in Cleveland, Ohio; Shuler joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan; and Gebre joined the Philadelphia AFL-CIO Labor Day parade.
Here are some parts of their speeches:
Richard Trumka
‘Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are ready to rewrite the economic rules. They oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership and support a new direction on trade. They will make the largest investment in infrastructure, public education, workforce development and manufacturing since World War II – to the tune of 10 million new jobs.
‘And Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are proud champions of collective bargaining – the single greatest tool for economic mobility and a growing middle class in the world. What can I say about Donald Trump? You saw the convention here. It was like a bad horror movie. Trump says he’s our friend. Let me ask you this.
‘What kind of friend wants to lower your wages? What kind of friend refuses to pay when he owes you money? What kind of friend sends your job overseas? What kind of friend threatens your retirement? What kind of friend calls you names because of the way you look or talk or worship?
‘Trump is not our friend. He is a fraud. Sisters and brothers, America is waking up to unionism. This is our chance. This is our moment. To bring out the best in America. To bring out the best in ourselves and each other. Our vision will lift us up. We can do it because we’re the ones who drive the buses and run the trains. We build the bridges and lift the loads. We teach the classes and care for the sick.
‘We do America’s work. We make America go. We want our share of the American Dream, and we’ll stand for it. We’ll march for it. We’ll vote for it. And we’ll win it! Thank you! Happy Labor Day!’
Liz Shuler
‘Here in New Hampshire, you’ve stopped “right to work” (strike-breaking legislation). You stood up to FairPoint (Communications). You’ve laid the foundation for a raising wages agenda. And under a new (National Labor Relations Board) ruling, teaching assistants at Dartmouth and other private universities now have the right to negotiate together for better wages and benefits.
‘Trump is not just unfit to be president – his polices would be a disaster for working people. He loves “right to work”. He has repeatedly mistreated employees at his own company. And he says wages are too high. Let me repeat that. He says our wages are too high. Trump is fond of accusing Hillary Clinton of playing the “woman card.” Well, I’m a woman. And I have a card. It’s a card that means good wages and benefits and a voice on the job. It stands for solidarity and unity. It guarantees a safe workplace and a secure retirement.
‘I’m talking, of course, about my IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) card. Millions of working women across this nation are proud to have union cards; and this November, we are going to beat Donald Trump like a drum! Now winning the election – that’s just the first step. We need to use our momentum to implement a working family agenda.
‘That means strengthening the right to organise and bargain collectively. Listen to this: The attack on union rights costs nonunion workers about $133 billion in wages each year. So increasing our ranks isn’t just good for the labour movement, it will boost our entire economy.
‘And speaking of good economics, it is time for a 21st century agenda for working women. Paid leave. Fair scheduling. Quality, affordable child care. And yes, EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK.’
Tefere Gebre
‘This election is about who we are as a people… I risked my life as a teenager to come to a United States that stood as a beacon of hope and freedom for all people regardless of race ethnicity or religion. We need to work together to be sure this election confirms that we won’t turn our backs on what makes this country great.
‘This Labor Day, we are putting our agenda first. We want an economy that works for all of us. We want to be free. To work and worship and love as we see fit. We want to be heard. In board rooms and classrooms and courtrooms. We want the American Dream. That’s what we are fighting for.’
Patricia’s Story: 26 Years of Working at the Trump Taj Mahal
‘Going on strike was not an easy decision and not something my co-workers and I at the Trump Taj Mahal took lightly. But we knew it was our only option after billionaire Carl Icahn stripped us of our health care and benefits. And we could use your help keeping our fight alive.
‘In 26 years serving cocktails at Trump Taj Mahal, I’ve survived four Trump Taj Mahal bankruptcies – and two bouts of breast cancer. There’s never a “good” time to learn that your cancer has returned. But in 2014, when my co-workers and I at the Trump Taj Mahal casino found out we were losing our health care because of Carl Icahn, I received news of my diagnosis.
‘It was a very scary time for me; not only was it my second go-around with cancer, but I lost my mother to the same illness. As if cancer wasn’t a difficult battle on its own, I had to constantly worry about debt collectors and payment plans on top of recovering from major reconstructive surgery and chemotherapy sessions.
‘Up until the very last day we still had coverage, I was running around doing everything I could to accelerate my procedures. But the bills piled up – fast. I’m living with a friend now because I had to give up my apartment. At the expense of people like myself who have been invested in the Trump Taj Mahal since the day it opened, billionaire Carl Icahn prioritised padding his pockets for a few extra bucks.
‘And it’ll almost be the anniversary of when I had my operation, the same week our health care coverage ended, that Carl Icahn says he’ll be closing the Trump Taj Mahal for good. But we’ve been fighting back and have been out on strike since July 1, and intend on holding the line strong no matter what.
‘I don’t know what I would’ve done without the strike hardship fund helping me avoid more collection agents and debt for my chemotherapy bills. By donating to our strike hardship fund, you’re helping keep our fight alive; you’re giving people like me at least one day longer to stand up to a billionaire bully and all the injustices we’ve endured under him at the Trump Taj Mahal.
‘This fight goes further than Atlantic City; it’s our time to stand up to these billionaires who think it’s OK to put a dollar and cent value on the livelihoods of working people.’
For professors at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus, Labor Day weekend was anything but a celebration.
On Saturday, all 400 members of the faculty union were told that their services were no longer required and that their positions, their health insurance and their campus email accounts were being cut off. Classes for the semester started Wednesday.
The university imposed a lockout, a labour tactic in which current employees are replaced by new employees. A lockout differs from a strike, in which a union opts not to work as a tactic to get a better contract. In this case, the faculty union and the administration have been engaged in negotiations and there was no strike.
William A. Herbert, executive director of the National Centre for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, said he could not think of an instance when a college or university had used a lockout against its faculty members.
The university has two main campuses – Post (on Long Island) and Brooklyn. LIU has had labour disputes in the past, including a weeklong strike in 2011 by faculty members at the Brooklyn campus.
The main issue in the dispute, according to the Long Island University Faculty Federation, the union, is inequity between the pay levels of faculty members at the two main LIU campuses.
Currently, half of Brooklyn faculty members are paid less – in many cases significantly less – than their counterparts at Post, says the union, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers.
