President of Steelworkers Interviewed on KCET

If you’re like me you missed the first airing of the interview with Bill Moyers on January 9th. Luckily you can still see it by clicking here.

United Steelworkers International President Leo W. Gerard strongly supports President Obama’s appointment of Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor. He supports the Employee Free Choice Act, Universal Healthcare and placing manufacturing at the top of the agenda to fix the current economic situation. He railed against what he calls “Toyota Republicans” for spending billions of taxpayer dollars in the form of tax cuts to lure foreign car companies and undercut American wages.
President Gerard is a union man through and through. He is the son of a union miner who rose through the ranks. He’s credited with adding 350,000 members in his first term in office. He is also one of the founding members of the Apollo Alliance.

Paltry Minimum Wage Increase for U.S. Workers

Workers in America should be up in arms over the paltry minimum wage increase passed by Congress today. Only $5.85 per hour up from $5.15 per hour at a time when gas is over $3.00 a gallon is just plain cruel. The minimum wage should be at least $10.00 per hour. Minimum wage workers today are stuck in a vicious cycle of hopelessness and poverty perpetuated by Republican members of Congress. The Republicans blocked increases every step of the way for ten long years and they need to be held accountable. Many states have long given up on the federal government to step up to the plate and set a decent minimum wage. Some states have taken it upon themselves to pass increases over and above the federal level because those leaders realize that like the saying goes, “an injury to one is an injury to all.”

I find myself asking the same question day after day, “What happened to this country?”