In letter to Treasury Secretary, Sweeney Calls on Paulson to Support Economic Recovery Package for Main Street 

In a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney urged Paulson to use this weekend’s meeting of the G-7 Finance Ministers to coordinate a global response to the deepening economic crisis that’s battering Main Street as well as Wall Street.

“Working families have an enormous stake in our government’s response to this crisis,” Sweeney wrote in the letter. “Our unions hear every day from our members, from employers and from pension fund trustees about the pain and anxiety that this crisis is imposing on working families.”

In the letter, Sweeney notes that U.S. leadership will be essential in developing a plan for aggressive coordinated inter-governmental action to respond to the global financial and economic crisis.

“We believe that international coordination is essential, and we particularly welcome the recent coordinated reduction of interest rates by the world’s leading central banks, as well as your recent announcement that you would consider using the authority granted by Congress to take a direct stake in troubled financial institutions by purchasing preferred shares,” Sweeney wrote. “We believe that both of these steps represent movement in the right direction, of recapitalizing systemically important financial institutions. It is still early, of course, but the actions taken to date do not appear sufficient.

“Moreover, the developments in the past week demonstrate that the problems we are addressing in the U.S. are global in scope, requiring a globally coordinated response. Conditions do vary among countries, of course, but stabilizing global financial markets and bolstering demand to prevent a serious global recession require coordinated international action by the world’s leading governments. Hence the importance of aggressive U.S. leadership in the meeting of finance ministers this weekend.”

In addressing the global financial crisis, Sweeney said it’s imperative that the Bush Administration and Congress tackle the housing and employment crises in the United States.

“It would be enormously helpful if you could lend your voice and support to addressing these challenges with the same imagination and energy that you are showing in addressing our nation’s financial crisis,” Sweeney wrote. “In particular, we remain convinced that a substantial second economic stimulus package is needed sooner rather than later. In order to ensure a durable and broad-based recovery, the government must step in to keep state and local governments functioning, to extend unemployment insurance for the hundreds of thousands of workers who will exhaust their benefits soon, and to create jobs by funding much-needed infrastructure projects. I welcome the opportunity to discuss with you the steps needed to assure that workers’ jobs, homes and retirement are secure and our economy is strong and globally competitive.”

For a copy of the full letter, please contact 202-637-5018.

Contact: Steve Smith 202-637-5018