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For Immediate Release

Monday, September 12, 2011

Romney Needs to “Take the Silver Spoon Out of His Mouth” Before Talking About the Working Middle Class

Statement of AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee in response to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s attack on labor and the working middle class

Washington, DC — 

“Labor unions are the ticket to the working middle class. If Mitt Romney is going to lecture working middle class Americans, he should first take the silver spoon out of his mouth and walk a mile in their shoes, and stop pandering to right-wing, tea party extremists.

“Mitt Romney doesn’t live paycheck to paycheck, doesn’t have to worry about paying a mortgage or worry about his job being shipped overseas. When you’re born with a silver spoon mentality, it’s easy to ignore important issues like job creation and target agencies like the National Labor Relations Board who protects the rights of most private-sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve their wages and working conditions.”