CWA Joins White House Jobs Summit, Calls for 'Workplace Summit' Strategy

CWA Pres Cohen at White House Jobs Summit.

At today's White House Jobs Summit, CWA President Larry Cohen joined the nation's leading labor, corporate, small business and other leaders to focus on the critical connection between jobs and economic growth. President Obama, Vice President Biden and top government officials made remarks and listened as participants presented ideas about job creation and the economy.  

Cohen was part of the discussion on "creating jobs through rebuilding America's infrastructure," which looked at both traditional infrastructure investment like roads and schools, and the necessary buildout of high speed broadband that will help the United States regain its standing as a leader in the Internet age and create quality jobs.   

Cohen also joined an earlier tech panel led by the Administration's technology and science team that looked at job creation through innovation and new technology.

CWA is calling for a new policy initiative and new perspective on jobs that will help bring about real economic recovery. Right now, the nation is in a vicious cycle of corporate job cuts and contracting out that has frozen unemployment above 10 percent. Every employer that cuts jobs to preserve profits or improve its share value adds to the current recession. 

Workers and employers must hold their own job summits, and corporate leaders must change practices that cut jobs at the expense of workers and economic growth. CWA also is calling on the Obama administration to evaluate all programs and Federal decisions on the basis of their job creation or job destruction implications. Similar to the environmental impact review required of many projects, CWA believes that a jobs impact analysis should be undertaken as a critical component in decision-making and the approval process. For more information, go to www.jobsnotcuts.org.