Kirkland Blasts Bush Over Lack of Jobs

American workers are being “royally stiffed” by President Bush, who campaigned on a promise to create 30 million new jobs during his time in office, AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland said Monday.

“Giving him full credit for a small growth in jobs before his recession began to destroy them, he now owes us about 29,750,000,” Kirkland told the opening session of the trade union’s convention in Detroit.

The meeting’s host city has a 24.9% unemployment rate.

“He has only a year left to come across, and the jobs he proposes to create in Mexico with his Free Trade Agreement, and in the prisons of his most-favored nation, Red China, do not count,” Kirkland said.

“I have been keeping track and we are being royally stiffed.”

Striker replacement legislation was on Monday’s agenda as the first of three main items expected to get the most attention during the next three days. The other key issues are national health care and trade policy.

Kirkland’s address was interrupted several times by applause from the more than 700 delegates.

They cheered when he said Bush’s whereabouts are not the issue. Bush has been criticized for focusing on foreign affairs and ignoring domestic issues.

“The real issue is not where he goes, but where he stands,” Kirkland said.

Bush should pay closer attention to the way many foreign governments treat their working class, said Kirkland, president of the 14-million member labor organization for 12 years.

“He might observe that every other industrial nation guarantees its citizens access to health care,” Kirkland said of Bush.