“This year, our first priority and our second priority and our third priority are creating jobs,” Senator Al Franken told 25,000 unemployed Working America members on a tele-town hall today. With 500,000 of our members unemployed, Working America’s strong priorities are putting people back to work and making sure that, in the mean time, jobless workers have the resources and support they need to get by. So today we reached out to unemployed members to give them a chance to get information, ask questions, and hear about opportunities to take action.
Sen. Franken was joined on the call by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and National Employment Law Project executive director Chris Owens, with Working America’s executive director Karen Nussbaum moderating.
Two unemployed Working America members opened a question-and-answer section that ranged from the broad economic issues to advice for specific situations.
Marvin, from Yellow Springs, Ohio, had worked in the food service industry his whole life as a chef and a manager. He’s been unemployed since the residential college he worked at closed their facility and laid off the staff. He said,
My experience is basically that the service industry is where people spend their surplus money, and no one has any, so we have no jobs. I’ve seen a lot of companies advertise jobs as entry level where before they were looking for people with more experience and were much higher paying.
I’d like to see the government take a more proactive stance to run the economy from the bottom up instead of the top down. So my question for you is what should the government do to create jobs? And not just short term jobs but ones that will stick around.
Sen. Franken responded that “we have to start manufacturing again,” investing in research and development and making use of the strong skills in manufacturing so many American workers have, and “we have to rebuild our infrastructure,” because America’s schools and roads and bridges are in need of repairs that would put jobless workers back on the job. He also stressed the importance of investing in green jobs.
Both Sen. Franken and President Trumka strongly and repeatedly stressed the importance of jobs legislation and economic stimulus. Trumka pointed out that when last year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed, it was for a smaller amount than was anticipated to be necessary, because Republicans in the Senate stonewalled and obstructed the full amount needed. With the recession having proven deeper than expected, making the stimulus that was passed even more inadequate than initially anticipated, Trumka pointed to the danger of further half measures. Deficit spending now to create jobs and stimulate the economy, he said, is an investment in the future.
Other callers had questions about the billions of dollars in executive bonuses the big Wall Street firms are announcing this week, the effect of buying goods produced cheaply overseas, and unemployment benefits. NELP’s Chris Owens urged listeners to call their senators in support of extending unemployment benefits, which will begin running out for some people at the end of February.
So many callers had questions that time ran out before all could be addressed during the tele-town hall, but this wasn’t just a one-off event. Working America is committed to working with all our members to promote strong jobs and economic legislation to put people back to work, rein in the banks, and restore balance to our economy.
In the mean time, if you’re unemployed, check out our Unemployment Lifeline for resources in your area and advice.
People lose a lot of rights during the hours they are workers. As a worker, you’re subject to being searched by your employer in ways that the government can’t do to you. Your actions and what you can say are more restricted in the workplace than they are on the street.
But a recent Senate vote highlighted a practice that goes way beyond those things. It goes back to this:
In 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones was gang-raped by her co-workers while she was working for Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad. She was detained in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food, water, or a bed, and “warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she’d be out of a job.” (Jones was not an isolatedcase.) Jones was prevented from bringing charges in court against KBR because her employment contract stipulated that sexual assault allegations would only be heard in private arbitration.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) proposed an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would withhold defense contracts from companies like KBR “if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court.” Speaking on the Senate floor yesterday, Franken said:
The constitution gives everybody the right to due process of law … And today, defense contractors are using fine print in their contracts do deny women like Jamie Leigh Jones their day in court. … The victims of rape and discrimination deserve their day in court [and] Congress plainly has the constitutional power to make that happen.
Let’s sum up: Franken’s amendment said that the government would not do business with companies that prevent employees from getting their day in court if they are raped.
The Franken amendment passed in a bipartisan vote—10 Republicans voted for it, including six Republican men. But that left 30 United States senators saying that the defense department should continue doing business with companies that deny their employees justice when they are victims of violent sexual assault. That’s a lot of power to try to give corporations over their employees.
Yesterday afternoon, Al Franken was sworn in as a United States senator. Yesterday evening, he arrived at the AFL-CIO building for a reception co-hosted by Working America. This has been a long time coming, I think it’s safe to say. Campaigns are not short to begin with, and with the recount and the lawsuits, Sen. Franken was not sworn in until eight months after Election Day. So this reception was an emotional event for all involved. As AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka said in kicking things off, “What a great day. It’s the day we’ve worked for and waited for.”
Sen. Franken’s choice of a first post-swearing-in event speaks to his deep commitment to representing working families. It’s not just that, as he said, “it is more than fair to say that if it hadn’t been for you I wouldn’t have won this election.” (After all, as he wryly followed up, “Of course, you can say that about a lot of people.”) Rather, his choice to address us—Working America and unions—was entirely consistent with the campaign he ran and the values he has consistently espoused. As he quoted the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone last night, “politics isn’t about winning and it isn’t about power. It’s about improving people’s lives.” His goal, he said, was to level a playing field that has “become a steep hill” for working people.
That goal was concretely backed up by his announcement that he had already become a co-sponsor of his first bill: the Employee Free Choice Act. He also addressed the need for real health care reform, and noted that it was because of his own membership in four unions that he and his wife Franni had health insurance through the drawn-out campaign, and a pension to look forward to.
Much has been made of the fact that Al Franken is a comedian. And in response, much has been made of his detailed knowledge of and passion for policy. Both those things are true—I can say that, having looked closely at a lot of candidate websites last fall, Franken’s was one of the most detailed and innovative. What I wouldn’t have expected was the emotional charge he brought to his brief speech last night. Though it was funny and though he mentioned several specific policy issues and several times referred obliquely to Jacob Hacker’s excellent book The Great Risk Shift, it was neither a stand-up routine nor truly wonkish.
Most of all the speech was truly about people. About the members of the United Steelworkers who, early in the campaign, challenged him to say how he would protect their pensions—and about his determination now to follow through on his answer to them, because “a hard day’s work should bring a decent day’s pay, and a lifetime of work should bring a secure retirement.” And particularly about his friend and, now, predecessor, Paul Wellstone. Sen. Wellstone’s legacy will be a difficult one to live up to, but no one who has heard Sen. Franken speak about his late friend can doubt that he will do his best. As Hotline On Call reported,
Amid the throngs of supporters showering him with well-wishes after his speech, Franken stopped mid-departure to answer a question: What would Wellstone say if he were here tonight?
“I would rather he had been here and it was still his seat, you know?” he replied. “That’s what I really wish.”
We probably couldn’t do better than to have the seat filled by someone who wishes that, and who will be striving to fulfill that legacy.
Congratulations, Sen. Franken. We’re looking forward to joining you in the fight for a just economy.
