Unions Find Obama Agenda Means Jobs Gain, Trade Loss

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aovrNraKQTLw&refer=us

By Kim Chipman

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- For U.S. unions, the election of Barack Obama is a matter of win some, lose some.

On the campaign trail, the Democrat pledged to be an advocate for labor. He is delivering by promising a huge infrastructure-spending program to create or preserve 2.5 million jobs and a labor secretary who will give the unions a Cabinet- level voice. He also assured them of his support for a law making it easier for workers to organize.

On balance, union leaders said they are satisfied with Obama so far, even though they will have to put one of their central demands -- opposition to free-trade agreements -- on a back burner.

“Labor by and large understands that in this economic crisis a lot of things can potentially happen that would be good for them going forward,” said Joseph McCartin, a labor professor at Georgetown University in Washington. “Raising a problem for Obama right now probably won’t be to their advantage.”

That’s because even partial gains are an improvement for unions after eight years without a voice in the Bush administration. It may also be because the president-elect, who won with the help of an unprecedented push from organized labor, has the upper hand as he works to avert a further financial meltdown that threatens to push millions of already struggling workers -- and possibly their unions -- out of work.

Early Appointments

Behind the scenes, however, labor officials are grumbling over the appointments to Obama’s economic team, particularly his selection of New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary and former Treasury chief Lawrence Summers to be his White House economic director. Both are linked to Robert Rubin, who pushed the North America Free Trade Agreement as former President Bill Clinton’s Treasury secretary.

FULL story at link.

[geckosfeet]

1. Wish he would talk to Robert Reich.

Robert Bernard Reich - (born June 24, 1946) is an American politician, academic, writer, and political commentator.

From the Wikipedia entry -

A Dartmouth graduate, Reich is a former Harvard University professor and the former Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. He is currently a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy.

And yes - a former Clinton administration member. But it's not like he's killed anyone.

[stillcool]

3. Robert Reich is an advisor to Obama..

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/Obama.advisers.expecations.2.869896.html

A top economic advisor to Obama had a glum warning for the rest of us Thursday morning: Neither the job market nor the stock market will be turning around any time soon.

"This might be a long haul," said Robert Reich, who was President Bill Clinton's secretary of labor. "2009 is going to be a very hard year. Some economists say we won't be out of this for two years, others are saying it may be three, or four, maybe five years."

Now on Obama's transition team, Reich worries about what happens after the new president is sworn in Jan. 20.

"We all have to be very careful about the expectations that we are putting on this man, our president-elect," Reich said. "If we all assume it's going to be the first 100 days, we're going to be disappointed."

[geckosfeet]

4. thks

[w4rma]

2. Robert Rubin is also behind Citibank's failure and the deregulation of derivatives, which are one of

the primary causes of our economic problems.