Kucinich: "We Stand with the Workers"

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today took to the House Floor to defend workers from H.R. 2587, the so-called 'Protecting Workers from Government Interference Act.'

See video here.

"The National Labor Relations Act was a New Deal initiative which helped save American capitalism by creating a process which would protect the rights of employees and employers. This was before NAFTA, GATT and the WTO, which tore legal rights for workers apart, moved millions of jobs out of the U.S.

"Yes, we stand for the workers at Boeing in Washington State, but we also stand for the workers at Boeing in South Carolina because they will have no recourse if Boeing wants to move jobs to China.

"You can't say you want to create jobs here at home while destroying the right of workers to organize, the right to collective bargaining. These are basic rights in a democratic society.

"You can't say you want to protect American jobs and not protect American workers. Take away workers' rights to free speech, take away workers' rights to due process and you create a new class of slave laborers here in the United States who are helpless to stop the movement of jobs out of America.

"This bill not only sacrifices the right of Boeing workers in Washington State, it also sacrifices laws that are designed to protect workers' rights. It's an attack on all American workers.

"It's one thing to take the side of the boss or the owners; it's another thing to take the side of the boss and the owners when they want to move jobs out of America.

"Stand up for the American workers. Stand up for workers' rights. Stand up for American jobs. And stand up for employers who want to keep jobs in the United States."