The politicians hope we’ve forgotten how they added insults to injury, how the harmed our families, how they stole our future. But we haven’t. We won’t. And here’s why:

I AM VOTING with a vengeance on November 2nd. And I hope you will be, too. It’s our one chance to Bite Back!

Please forward this email to your contact lists. Let’s let everyone know why we’re voting on November 2nd.

Great work everyone. This is a memorable milestone in the growth of Ur Union of Unemployed. But let’s not rest on our laurels. Let’s keep inviting folks to join your cube.

And don’t forget to check your email on Labor Day. You will find an “I AM VOTING” email with a link to our new internet attack ad. Called Bite Back, the ad will scare the dickens out the politicians who voted against the jobless time and time again.

We need to make Bite Back go viral as quickly as possible. So please, plan to spend a few minutes on Labor Day forwarding the link to your entire contact list.

As a sign that the economic recovery continues to lose momentum, over and above last week’s disappointing revision downward of second-quarter GDP growth to just 1.6% (instead of 2.4%), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), using its Current Population Survey of non-farm jobs, just announced this morning that in August 2010 the U.S. economy again shed more jobs than expected.  Specifically, “U.S. employers decreased (non-farm) payrolls by 54,000 jobs, with only 67,000 private-sector jobs added in the month versus an upwardly revised 107,000 gain in July.  The unemployment rate moved up to 9.6% from 9.5% as weak hiring by private employers wasn’t enough to keep pace with a large increase in the number of people looking for work.”  The BLS noted that there are now 14.9 million unemployed workers and since the Great Recession began (in December 2007) employment has decreased by 6.9 million.

The monthly BLS announcement regarding unemployment, as we note each month:

• uses only a survey of households rather than much more accurate payroll data;
• excludes changes in employment among the nation’s 10.9 million farm and self-employed workers, even though these two categories together represent more than 7% of the civilian labor force; and
• most important, does not take into account the 14.9 million workers who are:

1)    part-time-of-necessity because their hours have been cut back or they are unable to find a full-time job (8.9 mm);

2)    “marginally attached” because while wanting and available for work they have not searched for it in the past four weeks (2.4 mm); or

3)    “discouraged” and out of the labor force because they believe no jobs are available for them (3.7 mm).

Our Summary of U.S. Real Unemployment makes these three adjustments.  It also identifies average weeks unemployed, job openings, and the “Jobs Gap” that needs to be filled in order to be at full employment in real terms.  With the three adjustments made:

• The number of real unemployed workers in all four categories of unemployment – BLS, part-time-of-necessity, marginally attached and discouraged – increased by a massive 532,000 workers to 29.8 million, versus 29.3 million in July.  This very large 532,00 increase in the number of real unemployed workers contrasts sharply with the 54,000 (non-farm) job decrease just reported by the BLS, which again shows how misleading it is to consider only one of the four categories of unemployment and use only ‘survey’ data.  Significant declines this month in employment include: manufacturers shedding 27,000 jobs after adding 34,000 in July; the termination of 114,000 temporary Census workers; state governments cutting a further 14,000 jobs; and hundreds of thousands more workers pulling themselves out of the workforce and thus no longer being counted in any category of unemployment, not even as “discouraged”.

• The real unemployment rate is now 18.6%, compared to July’s real unemployment rate of 18.3% and this morning’s much lower official BLS rate of 9.6%.

• The number of real unemployed workers has increased by 13.0 million since the start of the Recession, and since December 2008 by 5.1 million.  By contrast, the economy needs to add around 150,000 new jobs each month simply to keep up with population growth.

• The Jobs Gap is 21.8 million new jobs in real terms; the administration continues to use a Jobs Gap figure of around 7.0 million jobs.

(I should note that some in the national press, when commenting on real unemployment, still leave out “discouraged workers” despite the fact that this is a huge category and arguably the most effectively unemployed of the four categories.  The all-in real unemployment rate of 18.6% drops to 16.7% if discouraged workers are not included.)

The average number of weeks unemployed is at least 33.6 and the number of workers unemployed a half year or longer is at least 10.0 million (i.e., BLS’s official figure of 6.2 mm plus the 3.7 mm discouraged workers). When considered together, these two numbers, each unprecedented in modern times, are a much better measure of the real employment condition than the more commonly used “initial jobless claims” number, especially when the latter is announced in the trough of a jobless recovery, which is where the nation is now.

Join IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger and workers from across the state in a rally to focus on jobs – also attending is Senator Murray who has been a champion for workers in this state – this is your chance to show her support.

JOIN US:  Tuesday, Sept 7 – 9:30 am at Machinists 751 Seattle Hall – 9125 15th Pl. S.

It will last about 1 hour. Plan to be here between 9 and 9:15 to get parking.

The attached printable flyer has all the information you need including directions and map.

“What will Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, say in his big speech Friday in Jackson Hole, WY? Will he hint at new steps to boost the economy? Stay tuned.

“But we can safely predict what he and other officials will say about where we are right now: that the economy is continuing to recover, albeit more slowly than they would like. Unfortunately, that’s not true: this isn’t a recovery, in any sense that matters. And policy makers should be doing everything they can to change that fact.

“The small sliver of truth in claims of continuing recovery is the fact that G.D.P. is still rising: we’re not in a classic recession, in which everything goes down. But so what?

“The important question is whether growth is fast enough to bring down sky-high unemployment. We need about 2.5 percent growth just to keep unemployment from rising, and much faster growth to bring it significantly down. Yet growth is currently running somewhere between 1 and 2 percent, with a good chance that it will slow even further in the months ahead. Will the economy actually enter a double dip, with G.D.P. shrinking? Who cares? If unemployment rises for the rest of this year, which seems likely, it won’t matter whether the G.D.P. numbers are slightly positive or slightly negative.

“All of this is obvious. Yet policy makers are in denial.

“After its last monetary policy meeting, the Fed released a statement declaring that it ‘anticipates a gradual return to higher levels of resource utilization’ — Fedspeak for falling unemployment. Nothing in the data supports that kind of optimism. Meanwhile, Tim Geithner, the Treasury secretary, says that ‘we’re on the road to recovery.’ No, we aren’t.

“Why are people who know better sugar-coating economic reality? The answer, I’m sorry to say, is that it’s all about evading responsibility.

“In the case of the Fed, admitting that the economy isn’t recovering would put the institution under pressure to do more. And so far, at least, the Fed seems more afraid of the possible loss of face if it tries to help the economy and fails than it is of the costs to the American people if it does nothing, and settles for a recovery that isn’t.

“In the case of the Obama administration, officials seem loath to admit that the original stimulus was too small. True, it was enough to limit the depth of the slump — a recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office says unemployment would probably be well into double digits now without the stimulus — but it wasn’t big enough to bring unemployment down significantly.

“Now, it’s arguable that even in early 2009, when President Obama was at the peak of his popularity, he couldn’t have gotten a bigger plan through the Senate. And he certainly couldn’t pass a supplemental stimulus now. So officials could, with considerable justification, place the onus for the non-recovery on Republican obstructionism. But they’ve chosen, instead, to draw smiley faces on a grim picture, convincing nobody. And the likely result in November — big gains for the obstructionists — will paralyze policy for years to come.

“So what should officials be doing, aside from telling the truth about the economy?

“The Fed has a number of options. It can buy more long-term and private debt; it can push down long-term interest rates by announcing its intention to keep short-term rates low; it can raise its medium-term target for inflation, making it less attractive for businesses to simply sit on their cash. Nobody can be sure how well these measures would work, but it’s better to try something that might not work than to make excuses while workers suffer.

“The administration has less freedom of action, since it can’t get legislation past the Republican blockade. But it still has options. It can revamp its deeply unsuccessful attempt to aid troubled homeowners. It can use Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored lenders, to engineer mortgage refinancing that puts money in the hands of American families — yes, Republicans will howl, but they’re doing that anyway. It can finally get serious about confronting China over its currency manipulation: how many times do the Chinese have to promise to change their policies, then renege, before the administration decides that it’s time to act?

“Which of these options should policy makers pursue? If I had my way, all of them.

“I know what some players both at the Fed and in the administration will say: they’ll warn about the risks of doing anything unconventional. But we’ve already seen the consequences of playing it safe, and waiting for recovery to happen all by itself: it’s landed us in what looks increasingly like a permanent state of stagnation and high unemployment. It’s time to admit that what we have now isn’t a recovery, and do whatever we can to change that situation.

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Click here to read the original Paul Krugman op-ed article in The New York Times.

“Geithner’s resignation, voluntary or involuntary, is inevitable,” said Rick Sloan, Acting Executive Director of Ur Union of Unemployed. “Rep. Boehner’s attempt to secure political advantage from the current economic crisis only delays his departure date.”

After obstructing jobless relief for more than a year, Boehner padded his call for mass resignations with a wet kiss for the Bush tax cuts, which would give the wealthiest Americans $3.7 trillion in tax breaks over the next decade. The Republican minority leader continues to remain silent on helping the jobless.

“Only one man’s resignation is required — that of the Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner,” said Sloan. “His recent op-ed ‘Welcome to the Recovery’ is so out of touch with today’s economic reality that his credibility is shot. He should realize that his effectiveness has been compromised, and do the honorable thing.”

Protesters at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel on Tuesday included, from left, Paul Black, Ashley Avilar, Robert Martinez and Dylan Ward.

DALLAS — Mexican government and business officials came to Texas on an aviation industry recruiting trip Tuesday, only to be greeted by union workers protesting job losses.

About 30 union members and officials, mostly from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, picketed outside the downtown Dallas Sheraton, where the aviation conference was held.

American aviation, aerospace and defense companies have been sending work to Mexico since the 1980s, costing thousands of jobs in Dallas-Fort Worth, said Jody Jack, president of Machinists union Local 776B, which represents Lockheed Martin production workers in Fort Worth.

Read more: Star-Telegram

Forty-seven years ago this weekend, on a sweltering August day often remembered simply as the March on Washington, my father delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial. A memorial to him is being erected at the Tidal Basin, not far from where he shared his vision of a nation united in justice, equality and brotherhood.

This weekend Glenn Beck is to host a “Restoring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial. While it is commendable that this rally will honor the brave men and women of our armed forces, who serve our country with phenomenal dedication, it is clear from the timing and location that the rally’s organizers present this event as also honoring the ideals and contributions of Martin Luther King Jr.

I would like to be clear about what those ideals are.

Vast numbers of Americans know of my father’s leadership in opposing segregation. Yet too many believe that his dream was limited to achieving racial equality. Certainly he sought that objective, but his vision was about more than expanding rights for a single race. He hoped that even in the direst circumstances, we could overcome our differences and replace bitter conflicts with greater understanding, reconciliation and cooperation.

My father championed free speech. He would be the first to say that those participating in Beck’s rally have the right to express their views. But his dream rejected hateful rhetoric and all forms of bigotry or discrimination, whether directed at race, faith, nationality, sexual orientation or political beliefs. He envisioned a world where all people would recognize one another as sisters and brothers in the human family. Throughout his life he advocated compassion for the poor, nonviolence, respect for the dignity of all people and peace for humanity.

Although he was a profoundly religious man, my father did not claim to have an exclusionary “plan” that laid out God’s word for only one group or ideology. He marched side by side with members of every religious faith. Like Abraham Lincoln, my father did not claim that God was on his side; he prayed humbly that he was on God’s side.

He did, however, wholeheartedly embrace the “social gospel.” His spiritual and intellectual mentors included the great theologians of the social gospel Walter Rauschenbush and Howard Thurman. He said that any religion that is not concerned about the poor and disadvantaged, “the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them[,] is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.” In his “Dream” speech, my father paraphrased the prophet Amos, saying, “We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

The title of the 1963 demonstration, “The Great March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” reflected his belief that the right to sit at a lunch counter would be hollow if African Americans could not afford the meal. The need for jobs and shared economic prosperity remains as urgent and compelling as it was 47 years ago. My father’s vision would include putting millions of unemployed Americans to work, rebuilding our tattered infrastructure and reforms to reduce pollution and better care for the environment.

In my efforts to help realize my father’s dream, supporting justice, freedom and human rights for all people, I have conducted nonviolence workshops and outreach in communities across this country and numerous other nations. My experiences affirm the enduring truth of my father’s words: that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and that “we are all bound together in a single garment of destiny.”

I pray that all Americans will embrace the challenge of social justice and the unifying spirit that my father shared with his compatriots. With this commitment, we can begin to find new ways to reach out to one another, to heal our divisions, and build bridges of hope and opportunity benefiting all people. In so doing, we will not merely be seeking the dream; we will at long last be living it.

Martin Luther King III is president and chief executive of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

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Click here to read the Martin Luther King, III original op-ed

The Bishop of Rockville Centre, New York, Murphy chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. The bishop issued the statement in his role as committee chair.

“Many millions are jobless or have a family member or friend who is among the fifteen million unemployed or the additional eleven million workers who only can find part time work,” Bishop Murphy commented. “Far too many have been unemployed for months, some even years. This is a pervasive failure of our economy today.”

The bishop called work “one of the major avenues for self-expression and self-fulfillment,” noting how work allows us “to care for ourselves and those we love and to contribute to the wider society.”

Bishop Murphy then quoted Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical “Caritas in Veritate,” which highlighted how unemployment and prolonged dependence on public or private assistance “undermines the freedom and creativity of the person and his family and social relationships, causing great psychological and spiritual suffering.”

Previous teachers of Catholic social thought are also relevant to the contemporary situation, Bishop Murphy explained.

For instance, Pope Leo XIII “insisted on the value and dignity of the worker as a human being endowed with rights and responsibilities. He commended free association or unions as legitimate and he insisted on a family wage that corresponded to the needs of the worker and family.”

Bishop Murphy also underscored that the past year has been “difficult” for many workers. He pointed to the “heart-rending” stories of workers who died on the job, such as the 29 men who died in a West Virginia mine collapse or the 11 men who died when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.

Along with the economic effects of the Gulf oil spill, the country is continuing to change. “America is undergoing a rare economic transformation, shedding jobs and testing safety nets as the nation searches for new ways to govern and grow our economy,” said Bishop Murphy.

He added that workers need a new “social contract” and must have “a real voice and effective protections in economic life.” The bishop said that the rewards and security offered to workers do not reflect “the global economy.”

“A new social contract, which begins by honoring work and workers, must be forged that ultimately focuses on the common good of the entire human family,” the bishop continued.

“The market, the state, and civil society, unions and employers all have roles to play and they must be exercised in creative and fruitful interrelationships. Private action and public policies that strengthen families and reduce poverty are needed.”

Bishop Murphy said new jobs with “just wages and benefits” must be created so that all workers can “express their dignity through the dignity of work” and can fulfill their vocation to be “co-creators” with God.

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Click here to read the original article.

“Another 500,000 Americans applied for unemployment last week,” said Rick Sloan, Acting Executive Director of Ur Union of Unemployed. “The pace of job losses is increasing, and Secretary Geithner doesn’t have a clue how to end this Grave Recession.”

In September of 2009, Geithner told ABC News’s Diane Sawyer: “A year from now, growth will be stronger. Unemployment will be lower. It will be easier to find a job. Incomes will be growing more rapidly. People will be able to be more confident in the value of their savings. They’ll be more likely to put their kids through college.”

“Geithner was delusional then and he’s even worse now,” said Sloan, who noted that just three weeks ago, Geithner declared the American economy was “on a firmer foundation for future growth.”

“If you’re feeling a sinking sensation in the pit of your stomach, it’s because Geithner’s ‘firmer foundation’ was laid on quicksand,” claimed Sloan. “Jobs are the bedrock of any sustained recovery. And we won’t see impressive job growth until Geithner resigns.”