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Action on Jobs Crisis Advances in USA
Action on Jobs Crisis Advances in USA
UNI and the global labour movement sounded the alarm against complacency at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh in September, urging leaders to put job creation at the center of the global economic agenda. The ITUC warned leaders not to misinterpret a partial recovery in world financial markets and not to let up in efforts to stimulate recovery. With strong economic growth in Asia and signs of recovery in the Americas, the danger of complacency has grown. Yet the jobs crisis remains and the threat of a double-dip recession is real. Continued economic stimulus to create jobs is urgently needed.
UNI’s affiliates in the USA reinforced this message at the White House Jobs Summit convened by President Barack Obama on 3 December. This week, there is evidence that the message is getting through: President Obama announced new proposals to create jobs in a speech on 8 December and scheduled a meeting with Congressional leaders on 9 December to discuss legislation to implement the proposals.
Among the ideas being debated is to use some $200 billion in unused (and repaid) funds in the $700 billion bank bailout fund established during the global financial crisis in 2008 (the so-called Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP) to create or save jobs. These funds could be used to give tax credits to companies that create jobs, to extend unemployment insurance, to shore up state and local government finances, and to fund a new round of infrastructure spending – including a “cash for caulkers” program to encourage American homeowners to hire construction workers to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka welcomed the new drive to create jobs, but called for action on a much greater scale: “The economy may have hit bottom, but there is a huge jobs gap that must be filled,” he said.
Closing the jobs gap
Last week we learned that the official unemployment rate in the USA declined slightly (from 10.2% to 10.0%) and that the number of job losses declined to just 11,000 in November, yet the real unemployment rate actually exceeds 17% once discouraged workers and those working part-time involuntarily are counted. And the “jobs gap” in America continues to grow. In addition to the 8.1 million jobs lost during the recession, the U.S. would need to add another 2.8 million jobs to keep up with the growth in the American population. The AFL-CIO estimates that the U.S. economy would need to create 583,000 jobs per month to close this gap over the next two years.
With limited credit available to small businesses, the ongoing mortgage crisis (with 20 million Americans facing possible foreclosure) and the poor condition of consumer finances in the USA, the weak and uncertain economic recovery will not be enough to close the jobs gap. That was the labor’s central message at the White House Jobs Summit.
Jobs Summit
Among the labour participants at the summit were UNI President Joe Hansen, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers, Andy Stern , President of SEIU, and CWA President Larry Cohen. “Immediate investment in the creation of new jobs and preservation of existing ones is essential to America’s long-term economic security and role as a leader on the world stage,” Hansen said. Cohen argued that “all employers – union and non-union – must take responsibility for creating, not destroying jobs” and he urged the Administration “to evaluate all programs and Federal decisions on the basis of their job creation or job destruction implications.”
Noting that “Wall Street got its bailout, now it is Main Street’s turn,” the AFL-CIO’s Rich Trumka presented a five-point plan for economic recovery and job creation:
1. Extend the lifeline for jobless workers. Congress must extend supplemental unemployment benefits, additional food assistance and health care coverage for the unemployed for 12 months to prevent working families from bankruptcy, home foreclosure and loss of health care. Extending benefits also will boost personal spending and create jobs throughout the economy.
2. Rebuild America’s schools, roads and energy systems. America still has at least $2.2 trillion in unmet infrastructure needs. Congress should put people to work to fix our nation’s broken-down school buildings and invest in transportation, green technology, energy efficiency and more.
3. Increase aid to state and local governments to maintain vital services. State and local governments and school districts have a $178 billion budget shortfall this year alone—while the recession creates greater need for their services. States and communities must get help to maintain critical frontline services, prevent massive job cuts and avoid deep damage to education just when our children need it most.
4. Put people to work doing work that needs to be done. If the private sector can't or won't provide the needed jobs, the government should do so directly, putting people who need jobs together with work that needs to be done. These should never be replacements for existing public jobs. They must pay competitive wages and focus on the needs of distressed communities.
5. Put TARP funds to work for Main Street. The bank bailout helped Wall Street, not Main Street. We should put some of the billions of dollars in leftover Troubled Asset Relief Program funds to work creating jobs by enabling community banks to lend money to small- and medium-size businesses. If small businesses can get credit, they will create jobs.
Leaders from the Change to Win (CtW) federation also presented a “Working Agenda for Job Growth, ” which calls on the Obama administration to: invest in building and maintaining our state and local infrastructure from public safety to health and education, from roads and bridges to water and sewage systems; stimulate investment in emerging industries from weatherization to the development of new energy sources; generate additional jobs through addressing the growing hunger crisis across America with broadened food stamp eligibility as well as continued unemployment and health care benefits; and, direct job creation with investment in public service jobs. CtW Chair Anna Burger noted that “the only way out of this recession is to work our way out of it, starting now.”
Global action needed
The Global Unions and the global trade union movement can be central actors in combating the global jobs crisis. We must keep up the pressure on governments to take coordinated action to create jobs. The return of modest economic growth will not be enough to return world labour markets back to health.
The G-20 Labour Ministers summit in April in the USA presents a key opportunity to press our case for continued stimulus and job creation. In this endeavor, we have the backing of the International Labour Organization. A new report issued by the ILO’s research arm makes clear that an “ early exit from the support measures adopted in response to the global economic crisis could postpone a jobs recovery for years and render the fledgling economic upturn fragile and incomplete.” The report, World of Work Report 2009: The Global Jobs Crisis and Beyond, also predicted that more than 40 million workers would drop out of the labour market if adequate measures are not adopted in many key countries and regions.
We must hold G-20 governments accountable to the commitments made in Pittsburgh to put decent work at the heart of the global economic agenda. They should be put on notice that progress must be made in closing the global jobs gap before the next G-20 Summit in Canada in June. UNI Global Union will be there to take names.
America's working families sent a clear message today: it is time for immediate action to create good jobs that will drive sustainable economic recovery. We will put the strength and values of our members, and all working families, firmly behind policies that reward work and give millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet the economic power of a paychecksaid Anna Burger, Chair of Change to Win.