Tweet
In Tuesday’s live Web chat, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka talked about what we need to do to fix our economy in both the short term and the long term—and touched on a vital, too-infrequently discussed issue: the need to end the stranglehold neoliberal economic thinking has on our politics.
Spurred by Milton Friedman and other economists, the neoliberal agenda is based on the radical principle that it’s markets, not people, that matter most. By nature, the neoliberal principle is hostile to collective bargaining, public regulation and all manner of ways to leverage community power to balance out the power of wealth. Trumka sums up Friedman’s poisonous political philosophy:
He believed that anything that got in the way of the free market was something that was bad and should be eliminated. Any regulation on business is bad, so get rid of it; any tax on business is bad and distorts the marketplace, get rid of it. A union is bad and distorts the marketplace, so you have to get rid of it.
For the last 30 years, that’s the system that we’ve had here. It brought us to this crisis.
Trumka says the labor movement needs to get back at the forefront of economic policy, including monetary, fiscal and industrial policy. Unions need to lay out a clear new economic agenda that will work better and stand as an alternative to the markets-first, people-later neoliberal agenda.
That means building an economy in which the financial sector works on behalf of the real economy—not the other way around. It means listening to the needs of working families, not pundits and corporate shills who claim that good jobs with living wages and benefits are “bad for the economy.” It means we don’t let big bankers reap profits from destructive speculation and pass the risks and the consequences on to us. It means that wages, not debt, drives the economy.
One of the top priorities for the AFL-CIO, Trumka says, is to educate union members—and candidates for office—about economic policy. Working people must be players in economic policy, so that we can create an economy that benefits everybody, not just those at the very top.
You can watch more of Trumka’s conversation with union members and working family activists here. Our five-point jobs plan is here.
Tags: AFL-CIO, economy, jobs, Labor, Richard Trumka, union, union blogs, unions
Related posts:
- AFL-CIO President Trumka: Union-Blue Dog Relationship Changing, Filibustering Health Care Un-American
- Got a Question on the Jobs Crisis? Ask Richard Trumka
- Trumka Demands Recess Appointments for Becker, NLRB Nominees
- Trumka Savages Democrats on Excise Tax; Can Democrats Work This Out?
- AFL Says No Deal Between Trumka and Rahm on Public Option
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
I’m encouraged by Trumka’s leadership so far. He seems much more likely to actually use the unions as a vehicle for reform rather than the unwanted step-child of the Democratic party. I really do want them to be aggressive and to really hold some of these Dems accountable. Is there an actual timeline on when, if ever, EFCA will come to a vote?
I just called these 2 organizations.
Omaha Steaks 800 228 2778
Nebraska Beef Council 800-421-5326
and told a person in both organizations, one a beef seller and the other an organization that promotes Nebraska beef that
I communicate with thousands of people on the net and that
UNLESS their CEOs get Senator Ben Nelson to get all Anti abortion language out of the health care bill they can forget me doing business with them and also forget about me buying Nebraska bred beef at the Supermarket which I will make sure that the local Supermarket does not sell.
Now it appears your turn to call them.
Thank you.
http://www.democratz.org
and spread the word please.
Demand congress fix the prescription drug benefit
go here http://bit.ly/drug_benefit
Send a message to traitor Joe Lieberman demanding he help enact a strong single payer public option into law.
http://bit.ly/traitorjoe
Send this message wide and far. Thank you.
Regarding EFCA, sign this petition at http://bit.ly/EFCA
It’s about time that the unions stepped up.
It sounds like the unions are pulling their punches in order not to burn any bridges. The problem with this is that there really are no bridges. As EFCA has shown, Obama and the Democrats don’t care at all about the concerns of labor or the real economy. We went through this already on the progressive side over healthcare. You can’t work with these guys. All you will do is enable them. They will string you along as long as possible or as it is useful to them, and then you will be dumped. I advocate going into opposition against them. The choice between crazy Republicans and pathetic conniving Democrats is really no choice at all.
“The choice between crazy Republicans and pathetic conniving Democrats is really no choice at all.”
I’ve been calling it the strawman of American politics. I mean really when you have one side so disconnected with reality like the right, it makes the Democrats the de facto choice, and they aren’t much better.
The perfect (good for you) is the enemy of the good (for us).
Please remember to add the missing words, and consider the speaker.
I thing that three of America’s top union members need to speak up about all the good the unions do and how they take advantage of union benefits.
I’m talking of course of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Bill O’Reilly.
All AFTRA members.
The radio union worked the FCC fine issue so that the station/ company would have to pay the fine instead of the host. So if a host or his producer Slipped and let a swear word go through Clear Channel or Fox pays instead of the host.
If the union didn’t help with that when Shepard Smith said the f word he would have to pay 350,000 in fines.
Impressive how Trumka, with his correct understanding of the burdens that Milton Friedman’s Washington Consensus Free Market poison imposed upon not only Chile but most of Latin America, can exude optimism about his relationship with Obama, knowing full well that Obama is himself an unapologetic Free Market Fundamentalist.
Yep. Power tends to do that to people.
Milton Friedman’s economic policies need to be laid to rest, right alongside of Thomas Friedman’s FU…! ;-)
Trumka is of course right on. But the majority of the people, including once liberal Democrats bought the propaganda long ago. And Friedman is now “conventional wisdom.” It’s going to take a lot of education to turn that ship around. .
Either that or events that gave rise to this little tremmor:
” * The U.S. Army War College warned in 2008 November warned in a monograph [click on Policypointers’ pdf link to see the report] titled “Known Unknowns: Unconventional ‘Strategic Shocks’ in Defense Strategy Development” of crash-induced unrest:
The military must be prepared, the document warned, for a “violent, strategic dislocation inside the United States,” which could be provoked by “unforeseen economic collapse,” “purposeful domestic resistance,” “pervasive public health emergencies” or “loss of functioning political and legal order.” The “widespread civil violence,” the document said, “would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security.” “An American government and defense establishment lulled into complacency by a long-secure domestic order would be forced to rapidly divest some or most external security commitments in order to address rapidly expanding human insecurity at home,” it went on. “Under the most extreme circumstances, this might include use of military force against hostile groups inside the United States. Further, DoD [the Department of Defense] would be, by necessity, an essential enabling hub for the continuity of political authority in a multi-state or nationwide civil conflict or disturbance,” the document read.”
or this little quake:
“Today, Moody’s warned that future tax rises and spending cuts could trigger social unrest in a range of countries from the developing to the developed world, that in the coming years, evidence of social unrest and public tension may become just as important signs of whether a country will be able to adapt as traditional economic metrics, that a fiscal crisis remains a possibility for a leading economy, and that 2010 would be a “tumultuous year for sovereign debt issuers”.”
**unless the market needed to be rescued by billions of taxpayer dollars when it breaks down
RIP: Milton Friedman:
Rep. WAXMAN: In other words, you found that your view of the world, your ideology was not right. It was not working.
Mr. GREENSPAN: How it – precisely. That’s precisely the reason I was shocked, because I’ve been going for 40 years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well.
Planing to tattoo this exchange on my ass, or at least print it on a t-shirt.
Heh… And they’ll ask the Canadians to come to our rescue…! Fancy that…! ;-)
i’m new but i saw jane make lanny wear his ass for a hat and decided to come aboard.
the liberal conservative labels are not truly appropriate. when i was a lad democrats were labor and republicans were business. that is the true division here. business used to financially support republicans. they had an epiphany. the epiphany was,”we will pay them both and when one doesnt do what we want we will withdraw funds. the democrats and lieberman are the ones that have been paid off. the only way we will get our country back is to reverse the supreme court ruling that states that corporations have the rights of human beings in contributing to political campaigns. i’ve never seen or read jane before but that is the type of performance we need to win.
As not one in the DEM caucus could win without us or survive a primary as a GOPPER, let’s tell ALL DEMS, “NO Public Option? No union support in 2010/12!! We’re on strike for REAL health care reform!!!!”
For those interested here is a link to what Hugo Chavez had to say in Copenhagen http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/putting_our_economy_in_the_hands_of_chavez_fans
You can all jump on me for OT, and content, but personally The only way to fix the system we have is from the outside. I would stipulate that calling politicians is a waste of time, I give you health care as one example. As far as this thing named the government, my call would be to you–stop participating in the madness, strike, walkout, your jobs are toast anyway, and the dollars paid for those jobs will be worthless in the not to distant future. Throw your television in the trash where it belongs. Today I called a Senator and asked his aid to suggest something I read somewhere, it’s a joke and I was called stupid and they were correct, but my point was made, which is to have all members put logos on their suits that state who has bought them off, who’s butt boy they are so it can be completely clear where their loyalties are, this for those too lazy to find out the hard way by reading something.
As far as I am concerned Mr. Obama and Mr. Bush are only separated by intelligence but both lack anyyhing close to real wisdom.
Sorry this is sort of all over the place. Unions are the hard won battle of many who gave their lives for the right to organize and form them, and the battle today has a different face but the people against them are of the same ilk as their predecessors, who killed and maimed so many to preserve their stranglehold on power over humanity. It is best fought with education, and the message needs to get to those people on the right, and the left, who have been lied to and manipulated to the point that what is good for them is really their worst nightmare. Liberals are not wusses they are bad ass motherfuckers who take no shit from dilettante assholes, and they don’t depend on someone telling them how to think, like those in the media who appear on television, radio, and in print, as someone worth listening to. Tough guys like limbaugh, hannity, beck, bortz and savage ad nauseam.
For those interested here is a link to what Hugo Chavez had to say in Copenhagen http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/putting_our_economy_in_the_hands_of_chavez_fans
You can all jump on me for OT, and content, but personally The only way to fix the system we have is from the outside. I would stipulate that calling politicians is a waste of time, I give you health care as one example. As far as this thing named the government, my call would be to you–stop participating in the madness, strike, walkout, your jobs are toast anyway, and the dollars paid for those jobs will be worthless in the not to distant future. Throw your television in the trash where it belongs. Today I called a Senator and asked his aid to suggest something I read somewhere, it’s a joke and I was called stupid and they were correct, but my point was made, which is to have all members put logos on their suits that state who has bought them off, who’s butt boy they are so it can be completely clear where their loyalties are, this for those too lazy to find out the hard way by reading something. As far as I am concerned Mr. Obama and Mr. Bush are only separated by intelligence but both lack anyyhing close to real wisdom.
Sorry this is sort of all over the place. Unions are the hard won battle of many who gave their lives for the right to organize and form them, and the battle today has a different face but the people against them are of the same ilk as their predecessors, who killed and maimed so many to preserve their stranglehold on power over humanity. It is best fought with education, and the message needs to get to those people on the right, and the left, who have been lied to and manipulated to the point that what is good for them is really their worst nightmare. Liberals are not wusses they are bad ass motherfuckers who take no shit from dilettante assholes, and they don’t depend on someone telling them how to think, like those in the media who appear on television, radio, and in print, as someone worth listening to. Tough guys like limbaugh, hannity, beck, bortz and savage ad nauseam.
sorry, everything went to hell lol
Yes that proud history is there to draw upon.
Get ready. We are going to hear some real Chicago machine Emamuel profanity and slander thrown our way. The ObamaRahmas don’t like us at all.
I actually saw that live and have the tattoo on my brain. Having enabled the destruction of our economy and so many dreams he was so casual. Like Oops. I dropped my fork.
I take the information in this and your first post very seriously. I pray no violence but I have no doubt the military could well be turned against the people. We had a taste of it in Katrina. I never thought I would live to see dead left in the streets or the conditions in the Dome. And if you recall the Bush people tried to first claim the victims were out of control rioters and looters.
the choice is between having pride at not being conned, and having to wriggle with your cognitive dissonance, trying to justify wasting your vote for a political party that does nothing but take you for granted and exploit you mercilessly and brazenly betray its bi-annual campaign rhetoric.
so, yeah, not much of a choice at all.
going the “I told you so” route is kind of bad form, and I don’t think Hugh voted for Obama, but c;mon folks, (by whom I mean all the firepups who close their minds to such Forbidden Thoughts anyway) the “no one could have predicted Obama would be this bad” line just doesn’t wash.
time to listen to folks who were right about Single Payer, right about Obama, right about antiwar capitulation to the ludicrous campaign of John Kerry, right about Joe effing Lieberman when he was #2 on the Donkey ticket, right about the stolen elections, etc, etc.
and there is a fair consensus that Labor is wasting its time trying to counsel the Donkey Party to appear to care more for working people.
Keep it up. Thank you.
It is all so sad to see this country eaten by the fat pigs with no care for such magnificence. The way to live is with a soft footprint, the Native American culture had it just about right, in fact our constitution is somewhat based on the 6 nations of the Iroquois confederacy. These men today have not a care for these kinds of things. But that is the nature of people such as those with the gold. They never realize or seem to care for the fact that all is connected and they are shitting in their own beds.
Trumpka impresses me as being really bright. He can explain complex issues easily. He’s a good speaker. He’d make a great politician and he’s got a nice twinkle in his eyes and smile on his face that shows he’s not the cold man Obama is. W’s nickname for Obama: the Pope. Maybe W wasn’t as dumb as he’s been made out to be.
I like Trumka but he apparently didn’t get the memo about word choices. They matter.
I’d venture to guess the majority of people hearing these remarks of Trumpka’s think he’s attacking liberals.
Trumka faces a difficult, if not impossible dilemma.
Elements of the Democratic Party have embraced Friedmanomics and abandoned any common cause with organized labor, or with working people in general. But open warfare with these elements within the Democratic Party risks a return to Gingrich-Bush dominance of the government.
“Liberals” NEED TO GET ON THE SAME PAGE, and POUND AWAY at this!
This is NOT ROCKET SCIENCE…. “Neo-Liberalism” is CORPORATE COMMUNISM plain and simple!
(Dylan Ratigan of MSNBC is the first person I’ve heard to use that term.)
As (former Republican) Kevin Phillips explained in his landmark book, “Wealth & Democracy in America” ALL great American fortunes have been AMASSED in CLOSE COOPERATION _WITH_ the government.
for the simple reason that if you DON’T have government allies, your COMPETITORS will soon get the jump on you – THEY will use the government, the courts, the sheriff, to take YOUR profitable land, business, customers, etc.
You know – they way that ROCKEFELLER, CARNAGIE, FRICK and others ground their competitors under heel.
Today, using the economic crisis of 2008, and their HIJACKING Of the clueless (and greedily ambitious) Barack Obama, the Goldman-Sachs/Citi/JPM Chase Neo-Cons have put the above “big business monopolies, IN LEAGUE WITH GOVERNMENT” autocracy ON STEROIDS, INTO HYPERDRIVE not seen since the US government tolerated, supported, and encouraged SLAVERY.
The Golddamn-Sachs Neo-Cons have gotten President O and the “Democrat” Congress to hand over some portion of TWENTY+ TRILLION taxpayer-extorted DOLLARS – http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aY0tX8UysIaM – that’s nearly 2x the ENTIRE annual US GDP! – to GS,JPM-Chase, Citi, and other big NY & Wall St banks, without providing us chumps a DIME’s WORTH of accounting or oversight… while, mind you, the same characters OUTSOURCE ENTIRE US INDUSTRIES TO CHINA, AND EXPAND costly US wars of imperialism overseas!!
Today’s “BLACKWATER” mercenaries are merely yesterday’s SLAVE TRADERS, and Injun “bounty hunters” (hired killers)!!
This isn’t rocket science: Classic “Neo-Liberalism” as GOLDMAN SACHS has put it on steroids, is the DIRECT TRANSFER to a select kleptocracy (robber barons), of the wealth of ALL the non-connected taxpayers in America.
see MaxKeiser.com, especially his rants on “FINANCIAL TERRORISTS”
This Trumpka thing is a Good Start. We, the union members and all workers, are the other side across the aisle from the corporatists. Corporation have been allowed to usurp our rights since the 1880s. We must take the “personage” out of corporate hands so that they can’t use the 14th, 15th, and 16th amendments for defense against us.