Date: 2011-03-02
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to highlight a very serious and dangerous attack on middle class Americans being waged by the Republicans in the Congress and in Statehouses across the country. The Wisconsin Governors assault on public employees is getting most of the media attention. but it is just one of the fronts of the extreme right wing and antiworker agenda trying to be carried out in this country. In fact. there is a wellfinanced and coordinated national attack against working families and the unions that they may belong to. the goal of which is to take away power from the middle class and give it to the wealthy special interests that have backed Republicans in their elections. Here is how it is playing out: The Republicans are taking a real problem. a serious problembudget deficits and longterm debt in this countryand they are assigning to it a fake cause. Under the guise of cutting deficits they say that working peoples union rights and workplace protections must be eliminated. In fact. this attack against working people is designed to remove the vital check on special interest corporate power from overrunning our democracy. This is an extreme agenda that they have always pursued. but they are now using their newfound political power to relaunch the attacks. to attack the guarantee to a decent wage. to attack the rights to ensure a safe workplace so when the workers leave home in the morning they know they will return safely at night. They attack the rights to have access to affordable health care and secure retirement. And yes. theyre even attacking the rights of working people to join together to bargain for a better life and better conditions in the workplace. So at the same time that the Governors of Wisconsin. Ohio. Indiana. and New Jersey are demanding more public and private union employee sacrifices. Republicans in Washington are using the budget fight to roll back the rights and protections of American workers. Their spending priorities in their socalled continuing resolution of last week show their hand. They voted to take away workers ability to repeal unjust and unfair and illegal actions in the workplace by getting rid of the National Labor Relations Board. They voted to undermine the wages of construction workers on Federal projects. They voted to roll back workplace health and safety protections guaranteed by Federal law. While protecting subsidies for corporate interests. they have sought to cut education funding and critical support for workers in need of job training. and yes. even kids in Head Start. These rights and services helped to build and sustain our Nations middle class in the last century making the United States the greatest economic power in the history of the world. We have the greatest workers in the world because of these rights. But now the rights and economic strength of Americas middle class are at risk. Its under a systematic assault in the statehouses controlled by Republican legislatures and Republican Governors and in this House of Representatives controlled by the Republicansa systematic assault that goes beyond after the unions. after the workers have agreed to givebacks. to furlough days. to give back health care benefits. pension benefits. They want more. They want their union. They want their rights in the workplace to be terminated. Its unAmerican. Theres a reason that we have collective bargaining in this country. because we know that workers should have a right to bond together to improve the workplace. to improve their working conditions. And when they do. those rights flow to the rest of middle class working families in this country. In even the nonunion workplaces. those rights are there. Thats how we achieved an 8hour day. thats how we achieved vacation time. thats how we achieved health care. thats how we achieved overtime whether youre in the union or not. But now they want to take away the rights of unions to organize in the workplace. the rights of workers to organize. But the Republicans have asked for no sacrifices. In all these cuts. they have asked for no sacrifices of the welloff and the wellconnected. In fact. these cuts are being made in the name of the welloff and the wellconnected so that they will be able to push for lower wages. for lower benefits. for lower health care for our workers. for lower takehome pay. And what does that do to the economy? It makes America poor. How do you build a strong middle class community on the back of lowwage earners? You cant do it. Its never been done. But the fact is. many years ago America decided we wanted a strong and a vibrant middle class. and we did that by forming a union and by giving people the right to have a say at work. We know study after study where workers have a say in the workplace. they work harder. theyre more productive. theyre more innovative. theyre more open to new ideas. But what do we say to workers with the Governors of Wisconsin and Ohio and Indiana? Do what we tell you to do. do it for less pay. do it for less benefits. and do it because we told you so. That doesnt sound like America to me. It doesnt sound like a powerful country that has the best and most productive workers in the history in the world. That sounds like something that were not familiar with in this country. That sounds like an autocratic system that just demands and takes but never gives.