Honor Labor Day by putting America back to work

By Bob King, James P. Hoffa and Mary Kay Henry

In Detroit, Labor Day is an opportunity to honor the hardworking men and women who built this city: the nurses who care for our families, the teachers who teach our children, the police and firefighters who protect us and the men and women who build our automobiles. Today our nation is in crisis. And Congress must use the next four months to honor America’s long tradition of innovation and hard work by creating the good jobs Americans desperately need. 

Today, more than ever, Labor Day is not just a symbol of the people who built this city and our country, but a symbol of the people who are eager to go to work and an opportunity for members of Congress to demonstrate that they are capable of taking bold and decisive action to rebuild our country.

Our citizens are hungry for jobs, they are eager to see America prosperous again, and they expect our elected officials to take action. But too often, the American people are left waiting while a small group of right-wing politicians in Congress holds our country hostage in the name of tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and incentives for reckless corporations. It’s time for members of Congress to make a different choice this fall. It’s time to prioritize the needs of the American people. 

Congress’s inaction is certainly not on account of lacking ideas. It certainly isn’t about a lack of Americans wanting good jobs. And despite what some politicians want you to believe, it isn’t about a lack of money. There are plenty of ideas out there — with plenty of ways to pay for them without increasing our national debt.

Requiring hedge fund managers to pay the same tax rate as nurses and teachers would generate $21 billion, and if  combined with Warren Buffett’s plan to  forces millionaires to pay their fair share in taxes, we could put more than 2 million Americans back to work fixing parks and schools, teaching children and delivering health care. Ending the $139 billion in assorted giveaways to big oil could fund relief for the unemployed and job training programs that would create another 2 million jobs. And a small tax on dangerous Wall Street speculation could generate more than enough revenue to put more than 2.5 million Americans to work fixing our crumbling infrastructure. 

The American people know that building a stronger, more robust economy is possible, they just cannot understand why the politicians they sent to Washington are talking about anything but jobs.

The American spirit has always been defined by our inherent ability to be innovative, resourceful and forward-thinking at the most critical moments. We put our faith in the American value of hard work to get through the Great Depression, we put a person on the moon when no one thought it could be done, and we revived an American auto industry on the brink of extinction.

Now, at a moment when our country again faces unmatched challenges, we must make a decision. Will we be a country that honors a long tradition of American innovation and resourcefulness, or will we be a country that ignores an America ready to go back to work?

For anyone who believes in the American spirit, the choice is clear. Washington’s narrow focus on deficit reduction is misguided. We won’t create a single job through budget cuts. But we can reduce our deficit by putting America back to work. This moment requires that  Congress act boldly to solve our national jobs emergency by charging the new congressional super committee with one singular mission — take the lead in developing a new jobs agenda to put America back to work. 

On this Labor Day, the best way to honor the hardworking people that are the lifeblood of this country is to create the good jobs America desperately needs.

Bob King is president of the UAW. James P. Hoffa is general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Mary Kay Henry is international president of the Service Employees International Union. This pinion piece originally appeared in the Sept. 3, 2011, edition of the Detroit Free Press.