More News

This Labor Day, let's honor all working people with a call to further action on jobs.

The economy is making a slow recovery, but we're still facing a jobs deficit of more than 10 million. Almost half of the 15 million unemployed workers in America have been jobless for more than six months.

While Congress has taken a step in the right direction by extending unemployment benefits, we need to embrace multiple solutions to America's job crisis.

That starts with electing working family champions — those who've stood by us as we fought for good jobs and a just economy. Let's call on all our elected representatives to do all they can to help workers.

We can preserve thousands of jobs by maintaining funding for services provided by state and local governments, like fire and police protection and schools. We can create jobs, and prevent future spending, by investing in our roads, bridges, schools and levees.

We can put people back to work by providing funding to neglected communities to match workers with jobs that need to be done. We can use leftover TARP money to get credit flowing to local businesses on Main Street.

We're on the right path forward. Let's keep America moving.

Ernest R. Grecco, Baltimore

The letter writer is president of the Metropolitan Baltimore Council AFL-CIO Unions.