By Roger E. Dahl
February 3, 2003

On Wednesday January 22, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard L. Trumka addressed the 71st Winter Meeting of the Conference of Mayors. He began by saying "I don't need to remind any of you in the audience about the damage that is being done to local economies and municipal budgets — you live with the deficits every day." He added, "and believe me, our unions and our members — working people - share the pain...."

Trumka continued saying, "I think we can all agree that our economy is no longer fundamentally sound," then added "let me put down my primary marker: two-thirds of our economy is driven by consumer spending, and the most sensible way to stimulate a recovery is to put money in the pockets of people who need it and will spend it — working people."

Trumka reported that "two weeks ago, the AFL-CIO issued an Agenda to Create Jobs and Lift the Economy and it contained five common'sense steps that need to be taken:

• A 26-week retroactive extension of emergency unemployment benefits and provision of health care coverage for the unemployed;
• More financial aid to help states and local governments with their most pressing needs — health care, homeland security, school construction, job training, services vital to working families and children and the poor;
• Creation of jobs with accelerated investment in schools, roads, bridges, transportation and transit, clean water and reindustrialization;
• Tax credits for all workers, with benefits concentrated toward low and moderate- income taxpayers — again, the people who will spend it to get the economy moving;
• And finally, an increase in the federal minimum wage to correct the gross underpayment of low-income workers, many of whom work full-time, but remain poor."

"Under the type of tax cut we're pushing for, a 3.5 percent tax rebate on the first $15,000 each worker earned in 2002 would pump $65 billion into the economy, money spent by 149 million workers, each of whom would get as much as $525," he said, adding "if we rebated $1,000 each to those same workers, it would put $150 billion into the economy almost instantly."

He suggested that without such action that "in addition to the suffering that will remain unrelieved, all of you—mayors and local government officials —will pay the price as more and more workers come to depend on their local communities for food, shelter, clothing, energy assistance, and health care."

He also said 'while you're here this week, I hope you will join me in urging our elected officials in Congress to enact a real stimulus proposal to create jobs, get our economy moving and help our states and cities deal with their staggering budget deficits...."

Mayoral Cooperation Suggested

"Meantime," he said, "let me suggest that the labor movement and local elected officials increase our efforts to work together to whittle away at those deficits. In Los Angeles, we-ve been able to work with Mayor James Hahn to save $12 million dollars a year in the Bureau of Sanitation and preserve good jobs for union members. We-ve worked with Mayor Skip Rimsza and the Phoenix Water Service to save $77 million dollars in the last five years... with Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes to streamline purchasing procedures and improve water services ... and with Houston Mayor Lee Brown to implement more efficient police programs."

Trumka closed saying "we're anxious to work more closely with all of you, and not only in restoring our economy and increasing revenues. If working families are this country's heart and backbone then our cities are this country's economic and cultural soul. And we are committed to being your partner in forging solutions to problems like rising job losses, eroding tax bases, deterioration of our schools and rising crime."