No surprise, then, that local labor leaders and politicians yesterday talked of "solidarity" and of the need to "fight" - for jobs that workers already have and for those they don't.
That "fight" comes on the heels of a report Friday by the Labor Department that employers stopped adding jobs in August - the weakest jobs report since last September - and that the national unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent. In Philadelphia, the jobs picture is even worse, with an unemployment rate of 11 percent in July, according to preliminary Labor Department statistics.
U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, D-Pa., said that union workers here "need to stay united" in their battle, lest they find themselves no better off than public-union workers in Wisconsin and Ohio, who earlier this year were stripped of some collective-bargaining rights.
Some labor leaders said that President Obama, who will unveil his jobs agenda in an address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday, needs to step up his game.
Pete Matthews, president of District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said, "He's got to show some hand-to-hand combat; he's got to get down-and-dirty [with his opponents]."
Matthews said he supported increased government spending on infrastructure - roads, bridges and schools - to jump-start hiring.
Addressing a labor rally in Detroit yesterday, Obama lauded unions for building the middle class, and he challenged congressional Republicans to "fight as hard for the middle class . . . as oil companies and affluent Americans."
But political analysts say that Obama is unlikely to win support for any new round of stimulus spending from the GOP, which didn't support the 2009 stimulus bill.
Republicans say that deeper spending cuts, lower corporate taxes and less government regulation will spur job creation.
At the Philadelphia rally, Brady wasn't optimistic that Republicans will play ball with Obama.
"They're the party of no; they want to vote no," he said. "They say no to compromise," he said, adding, "That's not the way to lead the country."
Mayor Nutter said that politicians in Washington need to put country before party.
"They have jobs; they have 100 percent employment," Nutter said. "They get paid by the American people to take action that is in the best interest of Americans. They need to do their jobs so other Americans can get jobs."
In the final analysis, the Simons said, Washington's leaders needed "to take a cue" from unions.
Both men sported T-shirts that read: "Organized Labor Is Under Attack: We Must and Will Fight Back."
