opinion
This past Monday was Labor Day, the working people’s holiday. It’s a time to honor the contribution that workers make to the economy and to our communities. For organized labor we use that day to celebrate the proud fact that it was strong labor unions that created the middle class in this country.
Labor Day is a great time to take a minute to reflect on all the sacrifices that were made by those who came before us, who paid the price to pave the way for all the benefits we have today that define what it means to have a good life: a 40-hour work week, health care protections, paid sick leave, a voice in the workplace. All of these are reality today because workers organized together, fought for it, and won.
In a normal year we would have celebrated with parades and picnics, but this is no ordinary year. Because of the virus, it felt as though celebrating may have been a little out of place.
We’re six months into this pandemic and President Donald Trump still has no real plan to address it. I want to be really, really clear here. The virus is not Trump’s fault, but the absolute failure to have a plan to confront it is. And Michigan workers are bearing the brunt of the pain.
Unemployment has doubled in our state since March. Across the country 1 in 6 small businesses have closed. And the manufacturing jobs that he said he cares so much about have been among the hardest hit. We’ve lost auto jobs in Michigan under Trump. Zug Island's steelworkers are losing their jobs because of his failed strategy.
Even before the virus, Donald Trump had failed on promises he made to grow auto manufacturing jobs. In his first three years in office there was a net loss of thousands of auto jobs.
Trump seems to think we can get our economy back on track by simply ignoring the virus and hoping it will miraculously go away — a failed strategy that we have seen play out in real time. Fortunately, Joe Biden knows that we cannot fix the economic crisis until we fix the health crisis. And he’s already shown he has the leadership skills to do it. As vice president, he helped our country get a handle on the H1N1 virus and he guided us through the Great Recession.
Now, more than ever, we need real leadership. Joe Biden will first and foremost listen to scientific evidence and public health experts to get this virus under control. He will be honest with the American people about where we stand and what needs to be done.
In 2008, at the time Michigan’s auto industry was in its greatest need and in danger of collapsing, Mike Pence voted against the auto rescue bills in Congress and Donald Trump later said, “You could have let it go bankrupt, frankly, and rebuild itself.” As we face economic uncertainty, we can’t risk having Trump and Pence turn their backs on us again.
We need trusted leadership. Joe Biden led the Obama administration’s efforts to rescue the U.S. auto industry and saved thousands of Michigan autoworkers jobs. Biden’s Buy American plan will create more than a million auto manufacturing jobs by bringing supply chains home. That means a lot of good paying jobs right here in Michigan.
As workers we must never forget that our solidarity with one another is our greatest strength, that we know that we will always have each other’s back.
Workers in Michigan support Joe Biden because we know he has our back. He always has and he always will.
Ron Bieber is president of the Michigan AFL-CIO.
Labor Voices
Labor Voices columns are written on a rotating basis by United Auto Workers President Rory Gamble, Teamsters President James Hoffa, Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber and Michigan Education Association President Paula Herbart.
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September 09, 2020 at 10:00AM
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Opinion: Joe Biden will bring auto jobs back to Michigan - The Detroit News
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