President Obama Talks Jobs

Despite the fall-like temperatures, crowds of people, mostly union workers, excitingly awaited the arrival of President Barack Obama.

Dignitaries, including Michigan Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, and numerous members of Congress welcomed the President. The “Queen of Soul”, Aretha Franklin, who is originally from Detroit, was also present to welcome Obama with a musical performance.

The President, who came to celebrate his Labor Day in Detroit, spoke of creating jobs, defending unions, and protecting the middle class. Obama brought the Secretary of Labor, Hilda L. Solis along with him.

“(The President) is very mindful of what the needs and concerns are of those individuals who have been out of work for so long,” Solis told the crowd. “I don't want to get in front of the president, but I know that he's going to be really helping to energize and hopefully get a lot of folks from both sides of the aisle to understand the importance of working on these proposals that he's going to put forward to put millions of people back to work," she added.

Detroit hosted a Labor Day parade before Obama’s arrival. The annual parade, which focuses on highlighting the jobs of union workers, attracted thousands of auto workers, nurses, construction workers, and other sectors to march through the city.

“If you want to know who helped lay these cornerstones of an American middle class you just have to look for the union label. That’s the bedrock this country is built on. Hard work. Responsibility. Sacrifice. Looking out for one another. Giving everybody a shot, everybody a chance to share in America’s prosperity, from the factory floor to the boardroom. That’s what unions are all about,” Obama said.

The President also used his appearance in Detroit as a way to send a message to the Republicans in Washington D.C.

“We’re not going to wait for (Republicans). We’re going to see if we’ve got some straight shooters in Congress. We’re going to see if congressional Republicans will put country before party. We’ll give them a plan, and then we’ll say, do you want to create jobs?” he asked.

Bob King, the President of the UAW and James Hoffa, the President of the Teamsters, were just a few of the labor leaders who listened to the President’s speech. Obama’s message to them was focused on celebrating their labor efforts.

“I’m not satisfied just to get back to where we were before the recession; we’ve got to fully restore the middle class in America. And America cannot have a strong, growing economy without a strong, growing middle class and without a strong labor movement,” the President said.

President Obama added that “not just the CEO in the corner office, but also the janitor who cleans that office after the CEO goes home” should have a voice on their job.

“We’re fighting for good jobs with good wages. We’re fighting for health care when you get sick. We’re fighting for a secure retirement even if you’re not rich. We’re fighting for the chance to give our kids a better life than we had. That’s what we’re doing to restore middle-class security and rebuild this economy the American way -- based on balance and fairness and the same set of rules for everybody from Wall Street to Main Street,” he said.

Without unveiling his entire jobs plan, the President put aside Washington politics to speak of the issues that concern middle class citizens.

“We’ve got roads and bridges across this country that need rebuilding. We’ve got private companies with the equipment and the manpower to do the building. We’ve got more than 1 million unemployed construction workers ready to get dirty right now. There is work to be done and there are workers ready to do it. Labor is on board. Business is on board. We just need Congress to get on board. Let’s put America back to work,” the President said.