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WEST VALLEY CITY — Listen up, Congress and state legislators throughout the nation: The largest federation of unions in the United States is preparing to hold you accountable for votes it says have harmed the working class.
A leader of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations says it is rallying members to actively engage elected officials and "call them out" for past votes or actions that have stripped away social protections and workers' rights.
"We've got to hold them accountable," Elizabeth Shuler, the AFL-CIO's national secretary-treasurer, said Friday during the 55th convention of the Utah AFL-CIO.
We cannot stand back while the institutions and the people who make this country work are under attack..." -Elizabeth Shuler
Shuler, the keynote speaker at the event, is the first woman elected to the position. At 39, she's also the youngest officer to sit on the federation's executive council.
"We cannot stand back while the institutions and the people who make this country work are under attack — while our education systems are decimated; while our communities are threatened by cutbacks in police and fire; while our roads and our bridges literally collapse underneath us because we haven't invested in infrastructure; and while Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are thrown out the window," Shuler said.
The AFL-CIO is referring to August as "accountability month," she said, and it's calling on the 12.2 million members of the union movement to make sure their elected officials hear from them and are made aware of how political decisions are impacting the working class.
"We need to insist that they respect our work, and that means we have to make our voices heard — not just complaining about what's wrong and looking for scapegoats," Shuler said, "but by making it right and finding solutions."
We need to insist that they respect our work, and that means we have to make our voices heard — not just complaining about what's wrong and looking for scapegoats, but by making it right and finding solutions.
–Elizabeth Shuler
Shuler also challenged supporters of the union movement to reach out to young people, a group she says has been among the hardest hit by the nation's recent economic struggles.
"Jobs are scarce," she said, "and they struggle to make it through college."
And when they graduate, many young people are having to return home and live with their parents because they're saddled with student loan debt and either can't afford or aren't offered medical benefits.
"We need to show these young people that the labor movement has something to offer them," Shuler said, "because most of them don't see unions as relevant in today's economy. … As our numbers have shrunk, the connection to the union movement for a young person has become more distant."
Getting young people involved, she said, is vital to the union movement and its longevity.
"It's absolutely critical that we build up our young members in the union movement and give them a place, a voice and opportunities to become leaders," Shuler said.
Email:jpage@ksl.com
