4/3/2012. Strong Voice Oregon. What Happened to the Middle Class, the American Dream, and the Union Movement?

Transcription

1 Strong Voice Oregon Participating Organizations: Oregon AFL-CIO, AFT-Oregon, AFSCME Council 75, OEA, ONA, OSEA, SEIU Local 503, LERC Goal I: Develop a long-term strategy to create a narrative in Oregon that supports publicly funded workers, public institutions, and a fair economy. Goal II: Create a broad coalition of conscience to build a fair economy that lifts up workers, strengthens public institutions, and supports sustainable communities. What Happened to the Middle Class, the American Dream, and the Union Movement? First, They Came for the Private Sector: The Thirty Years War on Unions Attacks on the building trades (1970s) Firing of the air traffic controllers (1981) Concession bargaining (1980s) Gutting the right to organize (ongoing) Rise of right-wing think tanks (since the 1970s) 1

2 They Limited Our Ability to Strike: Average Annual Number of Strikes By Decade, (from BLS, 2011) They Ran Away GE Brings Good Things to Life (in China) FRONTLINE WORLD reported that over half of Fortune 500 companies have moved jobs offshore, including famous names from many fields: Oracle, Dell, HSBC, Delta Air Lines, Novartis, J.P. Morgan Chase, Hewlett- Packard, American Express, British Airways. Since 2002, GE has eliminated 20% of its US work force while increasing employment overseas. The Damage Done Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Report, January million out of work 4 million foreclosed homes 4.5 million facing foreclosure or behind on payments $11 trillion lost in household wealth (e.g., retirement and savings) 2

3 A Human Census Please stand up if you know: Someone who has lost a job Someone who has lost their home or is facing foreclosure Someone who took a pay or benefit cut Someone who suffered losses in their savings or pension They Blame the Victim How Did We Get in This Mess Anyway? The Truth About the Economy in Two Minutes 3

4 Left Behind: What s Happened to the Middle Class? The Other 99%: How Are We Doing? How has the recession affected the quality of life for members of your family? How has the recession affected the quality of life in your community? How has the recession affected life at your workplace? Left Behind: The (Mal)Distribution of Wealth 4

5 We Make It They Take It Productivity vs. Wage Growth Productivity Wages Source: Economic Policy Institute Question: What Do These Companies Have in Common? Cover up the logo for the futu4re use and make sure it is large Answer: Not Paying Taxes According to a recent study by Citizens for Tax Justice, they were among 30 major companies that paid less than zero in taxes between 2008 and

6 And What Do They Say When We Call Them Out? A Tale of Three Percentages: What Do These Figures Refer to? 6.9% 36.2% 11.9% Private Sector Unionized Workforce Public Sector Unionized Workforce Overall Union Density They Outspend Us: By What Ratio did Business Outspend Labor in the 2010 Election Cycle? a) 3-1 b) 10-1 c) 15-1 d)

7 They Want to Kneecap the Union Movement We fight these battles on taxes and regulation but really what we would like to see is to take the unions out at the knees so they don t have the resources to fight these battles. Scott Hagerstrom, Executive Director, Americans For Prosperity-Michigan, February 2011 Back to the Future: Newt Gingrich on Bringing Back Child Labor "Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor, and pay local students to take care of the school. The kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they would have pride in the schools, they'd begin the process of rising. Speech at Harvard s Kennedy School of Government, 11/18/2011 What We Need to Do: Re-Establish the Role of Unions as Champions of the Middle Class and Defenders of the American Dream It s hard to imagine a middle-class society without a labor movement. Political Economist Robert Kuttner 7

8 Frame or Be Framed: Shaping Public Perceptions George Lakoff on Why We Need to Frame It s a general principle: Unless you frame yourself, others will frame you the media, your enemies, your competitors, your well-meaning friends. Exhibit A : The Health Care Debate Death as a Frame 8

9 Exhibit B: Frank Luntz s 10 Rules for Stopping the Washington Takeover of Health Care Rule 5: You ll notice we recommend the phrase government takeover rather than government run or government controlled. Exhibit D: Pictures Frame the Story And There s Always the Class Warfare Card I repudiate, and I call on the President to repudiate, the concept of the 99 and the 1. It is un-american, it is divisive, it is historically false You are not going to get job creation when you engage in class warfare because you have to attack the very people you hope will create jobs. Newt Gringrich, New Hampshire speech, November 29,

10 Their Story: Scape-goating Government and Public Sector Unions Ronald Reagan on Government The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, I'm from the government and I'm here to help. Another Image of Government 10

11 Taking on Teachers Framing Collective Bargaining Public Perceptions are Changing Harvard Economist Richard Freeman, on Public Hostility Toward Unions It shows hopelessness. It used to be, you have something I don t have; I ll go to my employer to get it, too. Now I don t see any chance of getting it, too. I don t want to be the lowest one on the totem pole, so I don t want you to have it either. 11

12 But The Narrative Has Changed : Focusing on The Other 99% News Coverage, October 2011 And It s Scaring Them: Frank Luntz to GOP Governors, December 2, 2011 I'm so scared of this anti- Wall Street effort. I'm frightened to death." They're having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism." And We Can Win: Robert Creamer on What We Learned in Ohio and Its Meaning for 2012 We framed the issue as a moral choice about the dignity of everyday working people and the future of the middle class. We stood up for our values. We transformed the image of unions from a large, bureaucratic special interest to a movement fighting to protect the interests of the American middle class. 12

13 Members Will Have To Be Our Framers and Messengers "Californians love nurses, teachers and firefighters, but they hate the unions that these folks belong to." "If it's Meg vs. nurses, teachers and firefighters, she loses. [But] if it's Meg vs. the union bosses, she wins. Jack Pitney, professor at Claremont McKenna College and a former GOP official And It Will Take A Movement Strong Voice the 99% 13