The Fed Thinks The Economy Is Healthy – But It's Not

In a new Medium blog post, CWA President Chris Shelton outlines why the Federal Reserve's hints at raising interest rates are so troubling.

He writes:

In contract bargaining this year, we've seen very wealthy companies seek to shift higher health care costs to workers and slash retirement security. We've seen companies look to cut good, full-time jobs that support families and communities, only to replace them with temporary and part-time work with limited or no benefits.

The current struggle of working families will only deepen under higher interest rates. It'll make it more expensive for us to pay our credit cards, student loans, mortgages, car payments and more. That means we'll have less cash in our wallets to purchase the goods and services we need. And when families don't have money to spend, that extreme budget tightening quickly ripples throughout our communities. Local businesses earn less and hire fewer workers, and the economy slows.

We're making it clear: the American Dream isn't only for Wall Street bankers and the 1 percent. It's supposed to be for all of us. Workers helped corporate America make a full recovery. Now it's our turn.

In September, Shelton pressed this point when he joined AFL-CIO leaders at a meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. They warned Yellen that raising interest rates would further harm the ability of working families to improve their wages and standard of living.

But will the Fed listen? We'll find out when the central bank meets to decide monetary policy next week.

Read Shelton's full blog post here.