Time to Put Jobs First
November 17, 2009
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka joined leaders from five major national non-profit groups at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in Washington, DC, Tuesday morning to announce a five-step robust plan to deal with the employment crisis.
In his remarks, Trumka highlighted the need for action to help state and local governments maintain vital public services and prevent layoffs of public employees:
“We have to boost aid to state and local governments to maintain vital services and prevent more layoffs. State and local governments and school districts are experiencing the worst fiscal crisis in decades – we have state budget shortfalls this year alone of $178 billion. Next year will be worse and the four-year estimate is nearly $600 billion. This is happening right as we need these vital services more than ever. Without additional funding, our public safety, our health needs and our children’s educations will suffer. The right thing and the smart thing is to take action to save services, save jobs and stop the hemorrhaging from choking off economic recovery.”
The leaders of EPI, Center for Community Change, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, NAACP, and National Council of La Raza issued a joint statement outlining what needs to be done to immediately address the need for job creation.
The jobs agenda being presented to Obama and Congress is based on five key points meant to give needed help to working families now while putting us in a better position for a long-term recovery:
- Extend the lifeline for jobless workers.
- Rebuild America’s schools, roads and energy systems.
- Increase aid to state and local governments to maintain vital services.
- Fund jobs in our communities.
- Put TARP funds to work for Main Street.
Watch Pres. Trumka’s speech from the “Spotlight on the Jobs Crisis” event:
For more, read Trumka’s entry on the Huffington Post and visit the AFL-CIO website at http://www.aflcio.org/createjobs.
