Ur Union of Unemployed is calling on the nation’s newly-elected Governors to cease their campaigns against public employee unions and to focus on creating the jobs their states and citizens so desperately need.
“There are hundreds of thousands of unemployed voters in Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin, who cast ballots for candidates who promised sweeping action to create jobs,” said Union of Unemployed Acting Executive Director Rick Sloan. “They did not vote for an attack on state workers, their pensions or their collective bargaining rights.”
In one of his first acts after taking office, Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker proposed to eliminate collective bargaining rights for nearly all state workers in Wisconsin. With backing from wealthy corporate sponsors, Republican Governors in Ohio and Missouri are endorsing similar moves in their states.
“Their claim that union representation is a drag on economic activity is not fooling anyone,” declared Sloan. “Attacking workers and cutting social programs that are a lifeline to unemployed families is not the answer to the real problems in those states. This is a crisis that cries out for real statesmen. Sadly, all we’re seeing is snake oil salesmen.”
As further evidence that – in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression – political priorities have gotten out of whack, an Indiana deputy attorney general was quoted this week on Twitter suggesting police “use live ammunition” to clear union protesters from the state Capitol in Wisconsin. The Indiana Attorney General’s office has released a statement saying Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Cox has since been fired.
In other state news, after a week of working families rallying at the statehouse in Indiana, Republican Governor Mitch Daniels abandoned a so-called “right-to-work” bill saying now is not the time to be having this conversation – our leaders need to focus on creating middle-class jobs.
But the middle class is still under attack. Take action by telling your state leaders that partisan paybacks, attacking unions and cutting much-needed services does not get people back to work. Tell them to focus on creating jobs.
