AFL-CIO blasts Bush on Katrina

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/12570940.htm

AFL-CIO blasts Bush on Katrina

Sweeney says slow response indicates administration's sign of hostility to workers

LOS ANGELES - AFL-CIO President John Sweeney derided the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina at a Labor Day rally Monday, saying the government's slow response was a sign of hostility to workers.

Speaking to more than 1,000 cheering teachers, firefighters and nurses at a Los Angeles intersection, Sweeney argued that cuts in government services and taxes had sapped the administration's ability to react to the crisis.

"We really need look no further than the ravaged cities of the Gulf Coast... to see what can happen when government is underfunded, unprepared and unresponsive," Sweeney said. "And the old, the young, the sick and the poor... are paying an awful, awful price."

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"This administration has been very callous," he said. "And the slow reaction to the (hurricane)... is an indication of their shortsightedness and lack of focus on workers and their families."