Howard Dean | Labor Day

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/090704X.shtml

Labor Day
By Gov. Howard Dean M.D.
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Monday 06 September 2004

On Labor Day, Americans ought to consider the struggles of the average worker in this country. It has not been easy to survive the current economic climate - wages have not kept pace with even the modest inflation we have had over the past few years. Those earning minimum wage have seen living standards virtually collapse in the last 30 years. There are many more working Americans who have lost all or most of their benefits, including health insurance. And, there are one million more Americans out of work then there were four years ago.

There are a lot of reasons why.

Republicans, who seem to run most everything these days, are hostile to organized labor and to working people in general. President Reagan fired the first shot when he decertified the air traffic controllers union 23 years ago, and organized labor has yet to recover. The most recent hostile action was Gov. George Pataki's (R-NY) veto of a minimum wage bill which would have raised the minimum wage to the same level we have here in Vermont as of January 1, 2004 - $7.00/hour.

Organized labor used to get plenty of bad press. From the Central States Pension Fund scandals that revealed union leaders stealing members' money, to the proven connections between labor leaders and organized crime, to unions at war with the progress being made on race relations. Not to mention, the labor movement has weathered its fair share of corruption.

But, we should all be grateful that labor unions don't give up easily. For example, in June, the nation's largest labor union sponsored a day of marches all over the country in support of universal health insurance, even though most members of unions already have that benefit under their contracts. And, the AFL-CIO has been leading the fight for years for a higher minimum wage. Taking a role in these issues proves that organized labor is now one of the leading progressive forces in America, fighting not only for its own members, but for millions of Americans who are not union members and do not pay any union dues.

...more...

And I was glad to have Dean's e-mail because I felt like writing him and thanking him, right now.

Thank you, for speaking out on Labor Day, 2004, Govenor Dean!

"The success of American capitalism depends on most Americans believing that the system works for all of us, not just those who have a lot of money. In the 1980s, Republicans believed that labor unions were too powerful. Today they are too weak, and those who work for a living are rapidly being deprived of a fair reward for their work. If you want America to succeed, this must change. We need to make it easier to organize low-wage workers and immigrants, so that they will have some hope achieving home ownership and college educations for their kids."

I was a supporter of your's during the Primary and am very proud of all the work you doing for our Country with Democracy For America...Betty Castor and Art Anderson come to mind.

I am also very happy the way you are out there campaigning for Senators John Kerry and John Edwards. We Can Do This! And We Will!

It's not only the bush cabal we are up against but the mainstream media(as you know) that we have to Battle.
It was appreciated when you told Wolf Blitzer that he "sounded like a republican".

Char Evans
Little Falls, New York

Labor Day 2003 from the archives:

DES MOINES, IA--Governor Howard Dean released the following statement commemorating Labor Day:
"Abraham Lincoln said, 'Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.' Today, we acknowledge the debt we owe to the hardworking men and women whose labor built this country.

"Tomorrow, nearly 9 million Americans will have no job to return to after their three-day weekend. We need a president who is creating jobs, instead of losing more jobs than any president has since the Great Depression. This has been one of the most anti-labor administrations in America's history; President Bush has rolled back ergonomics standards, tried to eliminate the right to overtime pay, and enacted an economic plan that has forced states and local governments to raise taxes, hurting working families across America.

"I know what it means to fight for our working families. As Governor of Vermont, I raised the state's minimum wage twice. I stood with nurses and other employees trying to unionize. And I made sure that virtually every child in the state and over 92% of adults had health care. As president, I'll work to undo the policies of the Bush Administration that attack America's working families. I will fight for a tough ergonomics standard and reverse the soon-to-be-finalized regulations eroding the right to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. I will amend federal law to expand the number of workers who can unionize......"

And he is still working in coalition with the unions.