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Machinists Union Tags Fed Chair Alan Greenspan a 'Dream Stealer' WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- In a blistering attack on the Federal Reserve Bank's policy of using interest rates to 'cool off' the economy, the second largest trade union in North America charged Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan with turning the American dream into an American nightmare for U.S. workers. "Layoffs, bankruptcies and job insecurity are rolling through the American middle class like blackouts through California," said Tom Buffenbarger, President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). "Hardest hit of all are U.S. manufacturing workers, where Greenspan's policies are directly responsible for wiping out nearly 200,000 jobs in the last 12 months." The broadside against Greenspan and the powerful Federal Reserve Bank appeared in the winter issue of the IAM Journal, the Machinists' quarterly magazine. The periodical, mailed to 730,000 IAM members asks, "Who is Alan Greenspan? And why is he threatening my job?" The answer, according to the Journal, is that Fed Chairman Greenspan, arguably the most powerful un-elected official in the world, is on the warpath against wage earners. By choking off consumer spending and slowing production with interest rate hikes, Greenspan intentionally created 'job insecurity' to drive down wages and keep the economy cool, stable and safe for large investors. "In the last several weeks, we are seeing the grisly fallout of last year's Fed policy of raising interest rates by 175 basis points," said Buffenbarger. "Layoffs are up nationally by nearly 200 percent with real earnings down by 0.4 percent. The 0.6 percent drop in industrial production, coupled with soaring energy costs and the sharpest drop in residential housing since 1995 all add up to a recession fully under way for working Americans." Calling on the Fed to exercise other options to cool down the economy, the IAM Journal cites the Fed's legal authority to tighten "margin requirements," making it harder for wealthy investors to play an overvalued market with borrowed funds. "But clearly, that isn't the Fed's strategy," says Jeff Faux, president of the Washington, D.C.- based Economic Policy Institute. "Their real target isn't inflation. It's the bargaining power of workers." "We like to think this is a democratic society where citizens and their elected representatives debate and decide the really important questions," says the Journal. But Greenspan and the Federal Reserve System operate "in private, without any day-to-day oversight from the president, Congress, the news media or anyone else." "What sort of democracy places its fate in the hands of such an elite," asks IAM president Tom Buffenbarger. "This unregulated, unaccountable and un- elected agency is making decisions behind closed doors that have more impact on working Americans than any other governmental body." "We need to demand that Congress requires the appointment of directors and governors to the Fed who represent the interests of consumers, labor and working Americans," said Buffenbarger. "The American dream should not be held hostage by a single man pushing the agenda of wealthy bankers and investors." Full text of the IAM Journal article is available on the IAM website at http://www.goiam.org/ or via fax by calling the IAM Communications Dept. at 301-967-4520. Additional comment and, or interview requests on this subject may also be made by calling IAM Communications at 301-967-4520. |
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