August Jobs Report Underscores Jobs Crisis
Dearborn, Mich. – Today, U.S. Representative John D. Dingell (D-MI15) released the following statement in recognition of Labor Day, Monday, September 5th 2011.
“Today, on Labor Day, we welcome the President to Detroit – the home of the American labor movement. I am honored to have him in our state to celebrate hard-working men and women whose innovation, determination and dedication have made our country the greatest place in the world.
“We can’t ever forget the hurdles our parents and grandparents had to overcome for fair treatment in the workplace. Their journey is responsible for the creation of the middle class. Let today serve as a reminder of the work we must continue to do if we are to protect middle class families and the benefits labor has worked so hard to give them.
“Things look pretty grim right now, and some in Washington want to dismantle the progress made in this country over the past 70 years, destroying the middle class in the process. The American labor movement fought for wages that American families could live on. American labor fought for a workplace that was safe for the men and women who worked there; they fought for pensions that American families could live on when they retire, and they fought for affordable health care for all Americans.
“Our nation’s jobs crisis is a national emergency. Leaders in Washington have spent too much time focused on playing political games and now it is time for action on job creation. I call on my colleagues in Congress to join me and to enact several measures that would create jobs now and strengthen the economy, such as legislation that provides job training, education, and support services and activities for eligible young adults to prepare them for entry into the workforce and investing in rebuilding American roads and transit, bridges, schools, hospitals, airports, railways, ports, broadband, and power grids.”
The national unemployment figures released on Friday indicated that the American economy added no net new jobs in August. The unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent nationally.
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