Yesterday afternoon in Pittsburgh, I had the honor and privilege of being elected president of the AFL-CIO along with our new Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler and Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker. Before I share my thoughts on what we can accomplish together in the future, there's someone I need to thank-someone I think all of us need to thank.
John Sweeney has renewed our commitment to organizing, restored our voice in government and reminded us that organized labor isn't just an institution; we are a movement.
That's right, we are a movement, and today, on my first full day as president of the AFL-CIO, my message to America is that just as unions built the middle class once before, if you give us the chance, we can build it again.
The surest, the fastest, most effective way to lift workers and our families into the middle class is with the strength that can only, only come with a union contract!
And, sisters and brothers, that fundamental truth has never been more critical to the future of this country than it is right now. Because today the American middle class isn't being squeezed: We are being crushed. The mirage of prosperity through borrowed money has dissolved-and now we're left with the reality of a hollowed-out economy and a broken financial system.
What kind of labor movement do we need to rebuild America?
A younger labor movement. A greener labor movement. A labor movement that can project its power-to defend workers anywhere in the world. A labor movement that's organizing the unorganized.
A labor movement that's winning health care for every family-and, yes, a labor movement that stands by its friends, punishes its enemies and challenges those who can't decide whose side they're on.
Can we make it happen?
I know we can.
It's up to us to build a newer, stronger labor movement and a unionism that speaks clearly and boldly to the needs of Americans today.
What's labor's dream for America?
We dream of an America where men and women work at jobs where they're treated with respect and paid what they've truly earned.
We dream of an America where workers have jobs they look forward to going to every morning-not the kind they can't wait to leave every night.
We dream of an America where young parents tiptoe over to the crib where their baby's sleeping...and look down at that little boy or girl...and know, in their hearts, that the America they'll leave to that child will be better and fairer than the America that was left to them.
What does labor want?
We want a nation where it doesn't matter what the color of your skin is...or what sex or religion you are...or whether you're gay or straight or what country your family's from because here, in America, we believe everyone ought to have their chance to step into the winner's circle.
What does labor want?
We want an America...where every man, woman and child who needs a doctor can see one! Where every worker looking for a good job can find one! Where every American who wants to have a union can join one!
What does labor want?
We want an America whose future will always, always be better than its past and where every voice is heard.
I believe this is our moment.
And today I'm telling you that we will seize this moment.
We will act, we will lead and we will win.
This is our time.
And we will not be denied.
Richard L. Trumka
AFL-CIO President
