Public Employee Press

Book review
AFSCME leaders issue a Main Street Manifesto

In "Main Street Moment: Fighting Back to Save the American Dream," AFSCME President Lee Saunders and former President Gerald W. McEntee have written a manifesto for change in our troubled economy.

They see working people losing the American dream in a class war in which the 1 percent, the employer class, is gaining wealth and power by weakening the countervailing strength of democratic institutions such as the government and labor unions. This employer offensive started in the 1970s with deregulation, tax breaks for the rich, free-trade agreements and labor board rulings that weakened union organizing and bargaining strength.

The power shift almost tripled the income of the 1 percent but resulted in stagnant real wages and rising consumer debt for the 99 percent, laying the basis for the "great recession" in 2008, with persistent high unemployment and continued employer attacks on working conditions and on the poor. Their power is further enhanced by the 2011 Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which opened the floodgates for corporate electoral funding.

Speaking from the frontlines of government sector unions under attack, Saunders and McEntee analyze the connections between Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and right-wing billionaires such as the Koch brothers, whose American Legislative Exchange Council disseminate templates of state legislation that use the recession as an excuse for privatizing and defunding government, suppressing voting rights and breaking unions.

The two union fightback leaders bring us into the heady days of mass protests against these governors' union-busting legislation and the awakening of youth protest with Occupy Wall Street, which framed the issues in terms of direct action in this class war.

While protests raged, only in Ohio did we see a clear-cut victory with the referendum repealing Gov. Kasich's anti-union initiative. McEntee and Saunders believe this is a "Main Street's Moment" for labor and community organizations to fight together in the streets and at the ballot box to rebuild an economy that works for the working class and lifts people out of poverty.

"We stand at a crossroads," they say. "We can either continue down the path of greater income inequality, ceding our voices and our democracy to the wealthy and the powerful. Or we can fight back."

"Main Street Moment" and other books and videos on the current economic situation are available for members to borrow free at the DC 37 Education Fund library on the 2nd floor at DC 37, 125 Barclay Street in lower Manhattan.

—Ken Nash,
Librarian