This Labor Day, It’s Time to Prioritize Working People

Statement by California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski

“This Labor Day, as millions of Californians struggle to find work, it’s time for a reexamination of our state’s priorities. Over the past few years, California has been barreling down the wrong track. While the Great Recession hit our state’s working people particularly hard, budget cuts have exacerbated the pain.

"There’s been far too much emphasis on corporate tax giveaways and far too little on investing in proven long-term job creators like education, manufacturing and infrastructure. The state GOP’s rigid ideological opposition to corporations and the wealthy paying their fair share is undermining our recovery.

“It’s time for our elected officials -- in California and federally -- to offer bold solutions to the jobs crisis. We should start by realizing the job-creating potential of high-speed rail to spark our state’s economy. We must address the underlying causes of our manufacturing decline, including flawed trade policy that encourages the outsourcing of good California jobs. And we must give young people every opportunity to get ahead by reinvesting in our K-12 educational system, community colleges and UC and state universities.

“California was once the guiding light for our nation’s economic miracle. It can be again. California workers are the most productive, hard-working and innovative in the US, maybe the world. Our state’s workers powered the technological marvel in Silicon Valley that keeps the world connected. Farmworkers in the Central Valley are the heart and soul of the agricultural industry that feeds millions of people. Teachers, firefighters, caregivers and other public servants protect our families, care for the vulnerable and build our future. It’s these workers, and so many others, that built our middle class, brick by brick.

“On Labor Day, we should celebrate working people’s achievements, but, even more importantly, recommit to building our economy from the bottom up, starting with a bold job creation plan that puts California’s workers first.”

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