June 13, 2007

For Labor Day 2006, Change to Win conducted a survey on the American Dream for American workers in the new U.S. economy. Did the American Dream have meaning today's workers?  Did working families believe the Dream would be there for their children?  What is the American Dream for workers in the 21st century?

What we found was that the American Dream is universal and the most powerful, expression of the hopes and aspirations of working families. We also found that the Dream is not about great wealth or material possessions. The American Dream is a set of values almost an article of faith that defines what it means to be an American.

Hard work, personal responsibility, and providing a better future for the next generation are the core values of the Dream. The fulfillment of the Dream is work that is respected, wages that can support a family, health care, retirement security, and a chance for a better life for your children.

In some ways, it does not seem like a very big Dream, but it is our Dream as a people, it is our Dream as a nation. It is the Dream that has made us a beacon of hope for workers around the world -- and, when you talk to immigrant workers, the phrase American Dream rolls off their tongues in a dozen different languages.   

But we also found that workers believe the American Dream is at risk. For the first time, working families -- regardless of income or education level -- believe that the next generation will NOT be better off. They believed the economy was headed in the wrong direction, and believed, no matter you might hear in the media or from government, that working families are worse off today.

Loss of faith in the American Dream -- loss of faith in the future is a bigger threat to our country than any foreign enemy.

What has put the American Dream at risk? What can we do about it?

We just conducted another survey -- the Working American Dream Agenda.

Our findings are dramatic.

There is anxiety, anger and a demand for action rising in Working America.

Workers are committed to the Dream -- even as they see growing, powerful economic forces eroding its very foundation, workers believe that they can restore the American Dream with an agenda that would provide government action for basic economic security, corporate accountability, and partnerships among workers, community organizations and businesses to promote good jobs for the future. 

Work is the source of the American Dream -- and, a good job is its cornerstone. What happens at work -- what kind of jobs our economy generates -- will determine the future for the American Dream.

The myth of the new American economy... that highly paid, high-tech jobs will offset the loss of the well-paid, union jobs in manufacturing; that all we had to do is re-train and re-tool;  that new economy is on the information superhighway is pure fiction.

In reality, unless we do something about it, the new economy is a dead-end street of underpaid, high-turnover, no-benefit jobs that cannot sustain our families or support the American Dream for the working families of the new economy.

Look at the occupations that will be adding the largest number of jobs -- retail sales, food service and preparation, nurses and  health care workers, trucking, customer service representatives -- are these the high-tech jobs we hear so much about?

We are told that education is the solution. But the number of jobs being created requiring a college education is stagnant -- and, starting wages for college-educated workers is falling. And with current trade policies, the jobs requiring a college-education are now the next jobs to likely be outsourced.

Look at the wage structure of the new economy. Over 40 million workers make $10.20 an hour or less -- leaving almost a third of American workers either unable or barely able to lift a family out of poverty.

The problem is not the jobs or the workers. The fact is that the workers in the jobs of the new economy provide valuable, essential services.  They bring skill and commitment to their jobs -- and, they are generating enormous wealth and profit.

The workers of the new economy are not low wage workers in low wage jobs -- they are underpaid workers in underpaid occupations.  

We should always remember that good jobs of the 20th century were the underpaid jobs at the turn of the previous century, until workers joined together in unions -- bargained contracts that provided living wages and family benefits -- won family friendly government polices -- and forged a social pact with corporate America that provided for economic growth and prosperity for working families.

Through our unions we created a vast American middle class, and generation after generation achieved the American Dream.

I grew up in a union family believing in and living the American Dream.

Change to Win unions are determined in our efforts to restore the American Dream for today's workers -- just as our unions did for generations before.

We are going to turn the new jobs of the new economy into the good jobs of the 21st century.

First, we are committed to uniting workers within their industries so workers will have a strong and effective voice to negotiate 21st century contracts.  According to our survey, workers want jobs that provide training, career advancement, family-friendly policies and equal opportunity so they can earn wages that will support a family and have benefits that are secure.  Workers want to be productive, they want to their companies to be successful -- but, as the survey makes clear, they want their companies to recognize their contribution with better pay, benefits, and working conditions.   

Two, we are going to frame the national political debate around the American Dream for American workers. We won't let either political party peddle the false promise of "new age" economics. The American Dream agenda is non-partisan -- it draws on our shared values as Americans. Workers believe in a basic framework of economic security -- they want government to play a positive role in making sure every American has health care, retirement security and a minimum wage that rises with the cost of living.

Three, we are challenging Corporate America to reconnect with the hopes and aspirations of Working America. Good jobs have to be put back on the corporate agenda. Workers believe in personal responsibility and they are demanding corporate accountability. They want business to work with unions and other organizations to promote economic growth and a rising standard of living.

In the face of all the challenges, workers remain optimistic, and they have hope. They believe through consumer action, political action and unions the American Dream can be there again for the next generation. 

Today it is my pleasure to introduce our two featured speakers, Tom Kochan and Beth Shulman authors of "A New Social Contract: Restoring Dignity and Balance to the economy."  Their paper is available today.

Tom Kochan is the author of Restoring the American Dream: A Working Families' Agenda for America. He is the George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management at MIT's Sloan School of Management and Co-Director of both the MIT Workplace Center and of the Institute for Work and Employment Research.  He has done research on a variety of topics related to industrial relations and human resource management in the public and private sector and is the author of numerous books and papers.  His 1988 book, The Transformation of American Industrial Relations received the annual award from the Academy of Management for the best scholarly book on management.  Professor Kochan is a Past President of both the International Industrial Relations Association and the Industrial Relations Research Association (IRRA).

Beth Shulman is a labor consultant and author of The Betrayal of Work: How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 35 Million Americans. From 1988 to 1998, she was a vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and directed the UFCW's professional division, which includes the largest number of financial sector employees in any U.S. labor union. She is a member of the Aspen Institute's Domestic Policy Council and the board of the Industrial Relations Research Association.  I want to say a special word about Beth... she is not just a writer, she is a fighter.  She is a committed trade-unionist who doesn't just view the world through a research lens but has been in the forefront of the fight to improve workers lives.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Beth Shulman.