AFL-CIO’s Richard Trumka on Racism and Obama
President Obama
AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer (now President) Richard Trumka blasts racism аnԁ underlines whу workers ѕhουƖԁ vote Obama іn 2008. Excerpt οf speech given аt Steelworkers convention July 1, 2008, sponsored bу USW President Leo Gerard. FABULOUS! Entire speech аt www.usw.org Mr. Trumka formerly served аѕ president οf thе United Mine Workers οf America. UPDATE: On February 6, 2009 Mr. Trumka wаѕ appointed tο Thе White House Economic Recovery Advisory Board, tο bе chaired bу former Federal Reserve chairman Paul A. Volcker. UPDATE: On September 16, 2009 Mr. Trumka wаѕ elected tο bе thе President οf thе AFL-CIO, thе national labor federation. Hе mаԁе history whеn two women joined hіѕ team: Liz Shuler, former executive assistant tο thе Electrical Workers (IBEW) President, wаѕ elected аѕ thе Secretary-Treasurer, аnԁ AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, wаѕ elected tο continue οn thаt position. IF THIS VIDEO WON'T LOAD CLICK: www.youtube.com
Strangely he is only making $240k per year. Given the high level he is at and normal union standards he should be making at least $1m per year.
Other than than he looks tough. Which means lock-out. Don’t even bother to negotiate. Build up inventories. Line up the scabs. And pretend the AFL-CIO isn’t even there.
Union leaders are as upstanding and truthful as mobsters and druglords.
It’s not about Obama’s religion and color, it’s all about money and power.
They don’t want secret ballots because they want to intimidate the people that vote against them.
@Number1POTter
No, that’s because corporations are moving the jobs REGARDLESS of unionization, Number1POTer. Part of this is the result of globalization, but a part of this is simple greed and indifference to the plight of average Americans.
Btw, unions help give you things like HMOs, paid holidays, Labor Day, pensions, etc. If it weren’t for them, I can assure you that you wouldn’t make more than a buck or two an hour…
You can thank the organized labor movement in this country for the fact that you have a 40 hour work week ,paid vacations,pensions, no child labor….etc. All these things came about because of unions organizing people.
theres no jobs because class warfare rich vs poor. the rich say if you if you unionize if you make a living wage we will move your job to india or china and if we cant move your job we will hire illegals to do it for cheap and off the books. theres no jobs cause the rich dont care about this country all they care about is their bottom line. soon their will be no middle class.
richard speaks the truth!!
This guy deserves to be unemployed. I absolutely hate this guy. He was in support of unemployment extension. Where does this idiot come off giving handouts, to the same people he helps put on the streets. This guy is anti america he hates free market he hates freedom. We are all in a union its called America, him and his kind are about to have to choose to love it or leave it.
Government support of unions (Wagner Act) led to the great expansion of America’s middle class after WWII. Destroying unions is the most effective way to destroy the middle class. Corporations and Conservatives are working at it 24/7.
@cameo9876: Note the lack of response from 85Pats. No facts, just . . . name-calling.
Trumka is an interesting mix of good old fashioned union leadership and modern sensibility.
@pdon297402 Trumka is an ignorant fascist scumbag who is SO full of it . Unions are a bunch of lazy idiots who suck off the government tit and want somethimg for nothing. Destroy them all
Can you link us to some evidence specific to Trumka that substantiates your accusations?
@YouzTube99 Amen. And duly noted….
@JTCares
We will teach your children in your schools with our books. We will disguise ourselves as Democrats. We will embrace all the arguments of your opponents. And, we will organize your uneducated workers. That is how we will turn this country into the greatest Socialist country in the world. Defeat Evil Freedom Loving Capitalist NOW!
@Number1POTter Unions helped American workers gain a semblance of a decent living standard, you idiot. What destroyed American jobs was globalization and free-trade agreements that allowed US businesses to outsource work into the third-world. Asshats like yourself don’t realize that we cannot compete with the third-world for the affections of our corporate masters unless we whore ourselves out like the third-world does. That is why we need to trade on our own terms and not under some agreement.
Uh yea sos from repubtards that the unions destroyed american jobs, But they never say the bushy polocies let all these american companys re-locate to commie countrys for the cheap labor and it all started with thier GOP god, RONNIE RAYGUN back in the 80,s, TRUMPKA for POTUS in 2012, This dude worked in coal mines not a rich boy country club, Suck on that repubtards!
Obama “worshiped” at a tax exempt democrat rally disguised as a Sunday service
Unions are becoming increasingly irrelevant as time goes by. I really wish people would start thinking for themselves. It’s sad.
@fedgery771 Corporate power needs organized resistance. As to relevance, ask workers who rely on their union for economic protection from exploitation how they feel…. (and not people paid to troll the internet to union-bash….)
@cameo9876 Their are way too many unionized workers- and I believe their should be less of them. If cops, firefighters, federal workers, teachers etc; jobs are so “important”, why do they need to unionize?
@FFFFbody If workers couldn’t join together to protect their interests, there would be even less demand in the economy then there is now. The middle class would continue its contraction….
This is a great book on the shrinking middle class:
Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class — And What We Can Do About It by Thom Hartmann
Not sure what you are asking re: “important” public workers and unions. Yes they are important, and yes, they need a union.
@cameo9876 Well I know what their “interests” are: a fat salary and fat pensions. The problem is government workers are making more than ppl in the private sector now and that’s a problem. The other problem is govt. has no money except tax-payer money. If ppl in the private sector make less than in the govt. sector, it unsustainable. Then I see govt. union jerks demanding a pay raise in this economy while people in the private sector lose jobs.
This man is nothing more than a shill for the democrat party and Obummer. He is not concerned with what is best for America. He is only interested in what is good for the AFL-CIO and more importantly himself. This is just another disingenuous speech by a lilliputian.
@FFFFbody What does job importance have to do with unionization? People like you are the problem in this world. Unionization happened because employers were killing workers with unsafe work conditions, paying them slave wages, etc. Do you think if the unions were gone we wouldn’t return to those practices? The CEOs of today do everything short of JUST THAT and you’re probably ok with THAT.
@lanee1967 What do unions do to protect its workers? OSHA and all the federal laws aren’t enough? One more thing, the thing that makes this great economy of ours hum is business, it’s sure hell not the unions. Union leadership are scum and I say BUST them unions. Early retirement for govt. union jerks and fat salaries are bankrupting the states ie. California, NJ, but you probably have no problem with THAT. Bust them unions!
Obama didn’t get the EFCA passed. He didn’t end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He hasn’t invested in alternative energy in any substantial way. He has been just as corporate as Bush.