DeLauro Stands Up for America's Workers

Co-chairs hearing on national assault on worker’s rights, impact on our middle class

Washington, DC— Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3), co-chair of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, made the following remarks at the “State-by-State and Congressional Assaults on Workers’ Rights and the Middle Class” hearing held by the committee today.

As Prepared for Delivery

Thank you. It is my privilege to welcome you to today’s hearing. I am pleased to join George Miller, co-chair of Steering and Policy, and our distinguished panel.

In this economy, American workers are struggling harder than ever. Good, well-paying jobs are too hard to come by, wages for the vast majority of workers have stagnated or are falling, prices are rising, and millions of middle-class and working families are losing hold of the American dream.

In these tough times, elected leaders have an obligation to tilt the balance back to the middle-class. That means fighting to foster American jobs, raise middle-class incomes, help businesses create jobs, and broaden access to education and new opportunities.

But that is not what middle class or working families are getting, either here in Washington or in some states.

I do not need to tell anyone in this room about the fight that is going on here in the House of Representatives. The new majority’s agenda preserves oil company subsidies and tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, while their budget cuts K-12 education and college aid, health care for families, food for seniors, and the rights of employees.

This is not a serious attempt to restore jobs, restore economic growth, and address budget deficits – but rather an attempt to accelerate a race to the bottom.

Virtually all impartial observers agree that this budget will destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs – 700,000 by the latest reckoning – slow economic growth by 2% of GDP, increase the deficit by over a trillion dollars within two decades, and endanger millions of middle-class and working families.

All this is bad enough for families. But Republican governors in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, and other states are further increasing the burdens on the middle-class.

Republican Governors like Scott Walker of Wisconsin and John Kasich of Ohio are not only cutting jobs, they are attacking the basic and fundamental right of ordinary middle-class workers like teachers, firefighters, and police officers – to bargain collectively.

It is a way of doing business which tells employees in this country – “You do not matter, your right to a decent wage does not matter. Your dreams and your aspirations to be better and provide for your family do not matter.”

Republicans argue that public sector employees are overpaid. In fact, as the Economic Policy Institute and many others have indicated, the research is overwhelming that public sector employees earn less than their private sector counterparts. These are our neighbors.

They also argue that collective bargaining agreements are the culprit behind state budget deficits. In fact, states where collective bargaining is explicitly illegal – Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas – are also facing massive deficits as well. And, in Wisconsin, for example, there are other obvious reasons for the state’s deficit, such as Governor Walker’s tax giveaways to corporations.

What these Governors are engaged in is not addressing budget deficits, but rather union-busting. As with their budget here in Washington, the Majority are doing this for ideological, not economic reasons. Theirs is a campaign that will further harm middle-class families, who are already dealing with a tough economy.

And it will disproportionately hurt women, since they make up the majority of public sector employees, particularly at the local level. 22% of women employed at the local level work as elementary and middle-school teachers. 61% of employees working in local government are women.

We have been consumed here in Washington with the budget fight. But the future of America is at stake not just in Washington. What is going on in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, and other states across the nation is just as important for our economy, for job creation, and our future. American workers are right now fighting against powerful interests for their basic rights.

I look forward to hearing our panelists today put the situation in context and help us to understand what is really going on at the state level.