Departments

From The Director
Vote To Preserve Middle-Class Lifestyle

Although the holiday season has just ended, I cannot forget those of us who are suffering from the results of the tremendous job loss in America in the last three years.
These unemployed and under-employed workers are truly suffering as they try to find good paying jobs with benefits in a society which is eroding its manufacturing base. Our country became the worlds leading economy because we produce goods in manufacturing plants that workers could afford to buy and we built strong unions to make sure the wealth was more equitably shared.
Unfortunately, these basic foundations of middle class life for millions of Americans seem to be disappearing as we are told our economy is moving ahead at full speed towards a service-related economy.

But while America has lost three million good paying manufacturing jobs since the year 2001, we are also fast losing service jobs and even the high tech jobs that were supposed to replace the blue-collar ones we lost.

This job loss can be attributed in part to NAFTA, which has also failed to bring workers of other countries up to the standard of living most American workers once enjoyed. NAFTA has only exported our jobs to low wage countries for corporate greed. Corporations escaping from union wages, good benefits and government regulation of working conditions and the environment have seriously damaged our nation’s economy.

As 2004 moves forward, America will elect a new president and many new senators and representatives. In the 2004 elections, you must ask yourself, “Can I count on stable employment for the next four years, or will I be the next worker whose plant is closed here and moved offshore?”
I believe it’s time we abandon petty bickering over party politics and educate ourselves on the people we will actually elect. We need to decide which candidates will really protect American workers and our right of liberty, employment and the pursuit of happiness.

We have cloaked ourselves for too long in the veils of party platforms while overlooking the basic right of every American to a good paying job. I see families where fathers work two jobs and mothers work also, while children grow up as latchkey kids struggling with their education because Mom and Dad are working way too many hours just to survive.

Our country must change direction. Tax breaks for the rich and corporations have not yielded benefits for American workers and have not stopped the continued decline of the manufacturing sector of America. An old saying goes: “If my neighbors are without jobs, it’s a recession. But when I become unemployed, it’s a depression.” We need a president and Congress that will commit to preserving good paying jobs in America.

Let’s come together and work together to elect candidates who will return America to her destiny of providing a middle-class lifestyle for all.