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- By Native News Online Staff
They have built the railways, highways, and waterways that connect us from coast to coast, have forged the look and feel of American cities, and have protected our communities and families as first responders. Organized workers have fundamentally transformed how we live and work in this country -- from securing the 8-hour work day and overtime pay to mandating standard safety practices in workplaces and earning better health care, pensions, and other benefits for all workers.
Trickle-down policies slashed investments in people and communities and allowed big corporations to amass more power while limiting the ability of workers to join unions. It did not matter where companies made things, as long as it helped their bottom line -- even if it meant losing the very workers who had helped them succeed. Companies cut staff, shipped good jobs overseas, prioritized cheap labor, and silenced workers' voices. As a result, factories and businesses across the country shut down, entire communities were hollowed out, and for many working people, a path to better their circumstances would never be within reach. People working as hard as ever could not get ahead because it was harder to buy a home, pay for a college education, start a business, and retire with dignity. The moment we embraced trickle-down economics, we walked away from who we are and from the way our Nation was built.
I knew our Nation could not continue with those same failed policies, so I came into office determined to build an economy that grows from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down. And it is working. We have added over 13 million jobs, including 800,000 manufacturing jobs. We added more jobs in my first two years than any President in a single 4-year term because we are investing in America and Americans again.
We passed the CHIPS and Science Act to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to American shores and ensure that the United States leads the world in innovation. It has attracted over $166 billion in investment and ignited a semiconductor manufacturing boom. Our Inflation Reduction Act helps build the clean energy industries of the future here at home while incentivizing companies to adopt strong labor standards. Our American Rescue Plan includes funding to protect over two million union workers, retirees, and their families from benefit cuts to the pensions they have earned. All of these investments mean good-paying jobs that American workers can raise their families on, many of which do not require a 4-year college degree.
I promised to be the most pro-union President in history, and I firmly believe that every worker in America should have the free and fair choice to join a union or organize and bargain collectively with their employer without coercion or intimidation. That is because when organized labor wins, our Nation wins. My Administration will continue to support and encourage labor unions so that workers have a seat at the decision-making table, an opportunity to speak truth to power, and the support to fight for the dignity and respect they deserve.
On Labor Day, we stand in solidarity with all the workers who lift our Nation to new heights and all the labor unions who give all workers power and voice. May we continue working to restore the American Dream for every person willing to work hard in our Nation by embracing what has always been the foundation of our country's success: investing in America and American workers.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.
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