PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

SF Labor: Calls on Labor Movement to Mobilize in Washington, D.C. August 24
by San Francisco Labor Council Thursday, May. 16, 2013 at 7:19 AM

In Support of the SCLC and King Center call for a March and Rally in Washington, DC on August 24, 2013 and in Support of the July 2 Northern California Demonstration to Demand a Massive Federally Funded Jobs-Creation Program and No Cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid

Whereas, President Obama announced his support for cuts to Social Security by switching to a chained CPI inflation index that will reduce cost-of-living adjustments; and

Whereas, President Obama announced his support for cuts to Medicare; and

Whereas, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and The King Center have called for a march and rally in Washington, DC on August 24, 2013 to commemorate the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Dr. Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream speech; and

Whereas, SCLC President Dr. Vivian has declared, “We must tell the President and Congress that 50 years later, the struggle continues and poverty continues unabated;” and

Whereas, the percentage of people working is at its lowest since 1979; and

Whereas, sequestration, involving $85 billion in federal spending cuts, has already started to depress the economy by reducing the number of new jobs, and the AFL-CIO has already called for its “wholesale repeal;” and

Whereas, the AFL-CIO has been among the loudest critics of proposed cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as a means of deficit reduction; and

Whereas, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has announced, “The President should drop these misguided cuts in benefits and focus instead on building support in Congress for investing in jobs;” and

Whereas, Trumka has insisted, “the real challenge our nation faces is a jobs crisis;” and

Whereas, the AFL-CIO has endorsed the commemoration of the SCLC and The King Center demonstration; and

Whereas, 93 percent of all new created income goes to the wealthiest 1 percent while the income of working people has been dropping; and according to AFL-CIO Director of Policy Damon Silvers, “In a time of rampant income inequality and stagnant wages, a blow to retirement security is the last thing we need;” and

Whereas, the demand for jobs and for no cuts to Social Security and Medicare has the overwhelming support of working people and consequently has the potential to galvanize the greatest number of people;

Therefore Be It Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council go on record in support of the August 24 demonstration in Washington, D.C., and the demands of a massive federally funded jobs creation program to be paid for by taxing the rich, no cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, the repeal of sequestration, and the rejection of austerity; and

Therefore Be It Further Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council supports the proposal raised by the Campaign for a Healthy California, California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA), CNA and others for a Northern California demonstration on July 2, the 48th anniversary of Medicare in support of these demands; and

Therefore Be It Further Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council help build and mobilize for these demonstrations and call on the AFL-CIO, Change to Win, and the National Education Association, and all other independent unions and allies of labor to build and mobilize for these demonstrations; and

Therefore Be It Finally Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council send this resolution to all the above labor organizations.

workerscompass.org