Walking Ohio’s ‘Road to Recovery’

October 24, 2008

October 24, 2008

Ohio AFL-CIO Pres. Joseph Rugola, also executive director of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE)/AFSCME Local 4 and an AFSCME International vice president, set off last week on a 300-mile walk across the state to draw attention to how failed policies have affected everyday Americans.

“The Bush administration has wrecked our economy and destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ohio’s working families,” explained Rugola. “The challenge now is to reverse these trends and this election presents Ohioans with a chance to right the ship by electing a President who will put working families and the middle class first: Barack Obama.”

Rugola put just more than 100 miles on his walking shoes during the northern portion of his journey, which began Oct. 5 in Youngstown and ended 7 days later in Toledo. Other stops on his route included Canton, Cleveland, Lorain, Salem and Warren.

Speaking at union hall rallies and closed plants, Rugola’s walk focuses on lost jobs. Ohio’s latest unemployment figure – 7.4 percent in August – is the highest in 16 years.

 “Since Bush took office,” Rugola told a Cleveland audience, “1,087 separate facilities have closed in Ohio. Over 200,000 manufacturing jobs have gone.” Rugola added:  “We want Ohioans to know that more of the same failed policies will bring more of the same devastating results.  The only way we can get back on track is to elect a president who will put American jobs and America’s middle class first.”

Read more about Rugola’s “Road to Recovery” Tour in this AFL-CIO Now blog post and this AFL-CIO/Ohio website, and view photos on Flickr.com. Also, check out AFSCME’s ad about Rugola’s walk in the Tuesday, Oct. 21 edition of USA Today.