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Elizabeth Powell |
Financial Issues for Local and State Union Officers:
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We Are the 99 Percent!
Elizabeth Powell
Secretary-Treasurer
(This article was first published in the January/February 2012 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)
Are you part of the 99 percent or the 1 percent? The answer is easy for postal employees, because the 99 percent is comprised of people who have to work for a living — and that’s us!
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We are the 99 Percent is the slogan of the Occupy Wall Street campaign, an ongoing series of protests against economic inequality. The movement started in New York City’s financial district in September and spread across the nation.
The slogan highlights the astounding inequality of income and wealth in America. According to the latest estimates of Arthur Kennickell at the U.S. Federal Reserve, in 2007, the top 1 percent of wealth holders had a net worth of nearly $22 trillion, or 33.8 percent of all wealth in the nation ($65 trillion). Kennickell estimated that the top 1 percent of income earners received 21.4 percent of all income in 2006 — or $2 trillion out of $9 trillion. If we add in the next 4 percent of wealth holders, then the top 5 percent have more than 60 percent of all wealth and 37 percent of all income.
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Tax policies of the past decade also disproportionately benefited the rich, who now pay relatively low rates by historical standards. The top 400 households, with an average income of over $350 million, saw their taxes fall to just under 17 percent in 2007, down from an average of 26 percent in 1992. According to an annual report issued by the Internal Revenue Service, the federal tax burden in 2007 of the 400 richest Americans amounted to only 16.6 percent, while the vast majority of Americans’ share of federal income taxes was 22.5 percent.
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Things are clearly out of balance. If the 1 percent sat on a seesaw with the 99 percent, they would be able to keep the 99 percent up in the air without any problem. Most Americans work for an hourly wage, making a product or providing a service, while others make money because of accumulated stuff, property, resources, land, machinery or even others people’s debt.
As AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said, “The Occupy Wall Street movement has elevated the national conversation by shining overdue attention on the struggles of the 99 percent for whom the economy is broken.”
The Occupy Wall Street movement is an expression of the collective frustration Americans have with greed and corruption. APWU activists have been participating in or supporting Occupy Wall Street actions all over the country because they understand that without jobs — including good paying union jobs — there is no American dream. Minimum wage jobs simply won’t permit the 99 percent to buy homes, purchase cars, or educate their children.
APWU Members Attend White House Meeting One way to help Americans get the jobs they need is the American Jobs Act, which President Obama proposed on Sept. 21, 2011. Unfortunately, Republican lawmakers blocked the bill with a filibuster when it came to the Senate floor for a vote in October. In November, the president reached out to organized labor and invited local activists to attend a meeting at the White House to discuss strategy for getting the jobs bill passed. James Bertolone, President of the Rochester Area Local APWU, and Cynthia McNeilance of the Tulsa APWU were among 150 union members and other progressive activists who attended the Nov. 1 event with President Barack Obama. Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to the president, began the meeting by discussing the administration’s strategy of pushing its components through Congress. Jarrett was followed by Vice President Joe Biden and finally President Obama, who spoke and took questions for approximately 15 minutes. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, were also present. President Obama asked those in attendance to support the strategy of introducing individual provisions of the bill separately. This would force legislators in Congress to vote for or against specific initiatives, he said. James Bertolone commented after the meeting, “It should also be clear to all that the unprecedented overuse of the filibuster rule to obstruct democratic action has denied Americans of the progress the majority of us voted for.” Bertolone also commented on the success he has had in over the last several months in New York in conducting face-to-face meetings with members of Congress and their staffs at their local offices, as well as handing out leaflets, attending town hall meetings, and picketing. “These have been the most effective ways to get our story in the press,” said Bertolone. President Guffey and I want to thank APWU activists, who work every day to influence the legislative process to support the Postal Service and postal workers. Thanks also go to Cynthia McNeilance and James Bertolone for representing us at the White House meeting. It was an historic moment for APWU. The American Jobs Act
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