The defining economic challenge of our time is raising incomes for hardworking Americans.  Too many families are working harder and harder, but still not getting ahead. The economy has come roaring back for Wall Street and those on the top economic ladders, but not for working families.  To address the issue of creating and protecting jobs and the economy, we must invest in infrastructure, emerging industries such as energy efficiency, and upgrade current forms of transportation (such as passenger and freight rail and transit) to create jobs and strengthen our economy.

Economic inequality is acting as a damper on the nation’s economy, and to get incomes rising again, a focus that address inequality by advancing the right to collective bargaining and new paths through apprenticeship training must be addressed. Only then can we renew our commitments to the basic compact made between American labor and management.