Amy Hanauer, executive director of Policy Matters Ohio spoke with America’s Work Force on Oct. 10 about race inequality in the midwest with economic opportunity.
Hanauer first talked about racism and how in certain areas it shapes a person’s wealth, income and economic opportunity. She talked about how minorities face wage discrimination and wage theft more often that non people of color do. Hanauer then discussed certain policies in midwest states that prevent African-Americans from earning good wages and block the building of healthy communities. Lastly, she talked about how to address and counteract structural racism and accrued disadvantages in certain communities. Hanauer said that policymakers need to make the push to improve conditions of communities and schools by putting more money into them and maintain consistent funding to underserved areas.
Desiree Hoffman, international representative for the United Auto Workers spoke with AWF on Oct. 10 about economic security and job security in the United States. She talked about how Unions offer workers economic security by ensuring that they are being paid a livable wage and their wages are not being stolen by their employers. She also talked about how collective bargaining agreements are essential for workers to be able to voice conditions of employment such as wages and safety concerns.
AWF host Ed “Flash” Ferenc spoke about United States billionaires paying a lower tax rate than the working class in 2018.
Crawford, who is from Flint, Michigan first spoke about the Flint water situation. He said that some parts of Flint still do not have clean drinking water and how there still needs to be work done to the cities water pipes to help fix the problem. Crawford then went on to talk about the UAW members who are striking at the GM plants and how GM cares more about their profits than their workers. He mentioned how the only way for the workers to get their voices heard is to show solidarity and come together collectively and say what it is that they want in their contracts. There will be no compromise if there is no organization in their demands. Lastly, Crawford said that the workers can’t overstep with their demands, they need to make them reasonable so there could continue to be conversation and progress towards compromise.
Dave Megenhardt, executive director for the United Labor Agency spoke with AWF on Oct. 2 about training workers in different sectors. The ULA provides programs to help people find the skills that they need in order to find a job. Megenhardt also talked about workers finding jobs where they have sustainable wages and could live off of just one job. He then discussed workers above the age of 50 getting laid off and having difficulty finding another job to last them until retirement. Lastly, Megenhardt spoke about the ULA’s unsung heroes banquet which is held every year.
Buffenbarger spoke about President Trump appointing Eugene Scalia as the new Labor Secretary. He stressed that having Scalia as the Labor Secretary could hurt working people in some pretty big ways. One way being a change in pension plans and 401ks, potentially taking away what people have worked their whole careers to build up. Buffenbarger then discussed the second week of the General Motors United Auto Workers strike. Workers benefits are being wiped away, and workers are now in charge of their own health insurance now. He also said there appears to be no progress on getting a contract drawn up between the workers and GM.
Jon Reiss, Executive Director of the Cuyahoga County Veteran Services Commission spoke with AWF on Sept. 24 about the services that they offer veterans. Some of the services include Veteran Administration and pension program assistance. They also help veterans who are struggling with food, housing or utility bills. Lastly, Reiss talked about single use plastic bag bans at grocery stores.
Senator Sherrod Brown discussed corporate stock buybacks during his time on the Sept. 12 edition of AWF. He said that corporations are using stock buybacks for their own personal gain rather than sharing the wealth with their employees, so he proposed that for every $1 million made in profit from stock buybacks, $1 is given to every employee. Sen. Brown also talked about gun safety laws and regulations and how little progress is being made on banning certain types of guns even in the wake of the recent shooting tragedies across the U.S.
Josh Nassar, legislative director of the United Auto Workers spoke about tariffs and trade during his time on America’s Work Force. According to Nassar, China has been dumping their access steel and aluminum in the United States and it is hurting U.S. steel workers. Nassar went on to talk the new NAFTA, United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, and how he feels it is making progress, but there is still work to be done on the portion protecting workers. Nassar ending with the topic of healthcare and how it should be a right and healther should be expanded to cover more than it does.