[Sciutto:] We're down to the wire on stimulus and Republican senators are divided among themselves over key pieces of their leadership's stimulus proposal. One piece some GOP lawmakers are blasting is the inclusion of $1.75 billion in new funding for a new FBI building. Something that no one in the Republican caucus seems to have asked for, came from the White House. The bill also calls for a $400 cut to the weekly enhanced unemployment benefits, which ends just on Friday. I'm joined now by Richard Trumka. He's the president of the AFL-CIO. He represents some 12.5 million American workers. Mr. Trumka, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.
[Richard Trumka, President, Afl-cio:] Jim, thanks for having me on.
[Sciutto:] Let's start with stimulus. You've called for Congress to pass the HEROES Act, this is the Democrats' proposal, $3 trillion in additional funding, including extending that $600 enhanced unemployment benefit. Senate Republicans, but even Steny Hoyer of the Democrats yesterday had said that benefit could be a disincentive to work for some people. And I wonder, you represent 12.5 million working Americans. Have you see any evidence from your membership that that enhanced benefit is keeping people from going back to taking paying jobs?
[Trumka:] Not a bit. Look, Jim, there are 14.5 million people, well less jobs than there are people out of work. So if people want to get back to work, they couldn't find jobs anyway. That $600 is actually keeping the economy going right now. Our economy is 72 percent driven by consumer spending. And when this expires, 35 million people are going to have $600 a week less to spend. Can you imagine the shock that is going to go through our economy? The Republican bill totally fails to recognize the magnitude of the crisis and it directs money to people who don't need it and takes money away from people who do need it. That $600 a week is what's keeping the economy going right now.
[Sciutto:] Let's talk about another issue, and that is the health standard for returning to work in the midst of a pandemic. You say the fact that there is still no national standard of care is shameful. And I wonder, is it your view that some businesses, but the president in effect by pushing to reopen the economy now, that he's pressuring workers to return to jobs the job in unsafe conditions?
[Trumka:] Oh, there's no question about it. Look what the president did in meat packing, he ordered them back to work knowing that there was they were going to get infected with no health and safety plan required. No PPE required. Look, what he did and what the Republicans do in this bill is they don't give a standard. That means essential workers are going to continue to get infected and continue to die. Nurses, doctors, hospital, police officers, firefighters, grocery workers, transit workers are going to continue to die. And then, on the other hand, Jim, they have a portion of that bill that would isolate a corporation or any of the employers from being sued. So it disincents them from doing what's right and protecting workers, knowing that even if they don't, there's nothing that can happen to them. So it's the absolute wrong thing to do in a pandemic.
[Sciutto:] Do your you know there's great impatience with this country in this country to get back to normal or as close to normal as possible, and I imagine to get back to work, right? I'm sure a lot of your members don't like sitting at home, even when they're getting some support. Do you hear members say to you, listen, it's time, we know the risks, but it's time to get back to work?
[Trumka:] Look, every one of our workers want to get back to work. Every teacher out there wants to get back to the school. But our members want to do it safely, because, Jim, it does no good to send them back to work only to have them get infected and close back down. It would be worse the second time around. That's why a standard, a health standard, a pandemic health standard is so important here. And this administration refuses to do it. OSHA, the agency that's charged with protecting the workers out there, has been AWOL throughout this whole pandemic. Listen to this one statistic. There have been 6,000 complaints about the pandemic, 6,000 complaints to OSHA, and they've issued two.
[Sciutto:] Wow. Yes.
[Trumka:] Two violations since February.
[Sciutto:] Yes. I want to ask you, because I don't have to tell you, we're three months away three months and a couple of days away from the election. In 2017 you noted that President Trump got just three percentage point more from your membership than Mitt Romney, but 10 but Clinton got 10 percent fewer AFL-CIO members than Barack Obama did. And you identified this, that there was not a clear economic message from the Democratic candidate in 2016. I wonder, in 2020, is there an articulated economic message from Vice President Biden and do you believe it will be different this time from union membership?
[Trumka:] Absolutely there's a clear message. The platform that is about to come out will be the most progressive worker oriented platform any political party's ever put forward. I happen to be on the drafting committee. It takes care of workers. It takes care of the health and safety standards. It takes care of pensions. And it says that workers are the key to recovery. In any kind of recession, there has to be consumer spending. When workers get a raise, the economy does better. Everybody does better along the way. This the economy and the program that Vice President Biden and the Democratic platform are the most progressive that we have seen to date. And so we're hopeful about that. We want to make sure it gets implemented afterwards. And we don't need a bill like the one that was just presented by the Republicans that is too small and directs people money away from us, for instance on nutrition, Jim. There's no money for nutrition for kids that need nutrition.
[Sciutto:] Yes.
[Trumka:] But they give a tax deduction or a $2,500 or a $3,000 lunch a CEO can deduct that entire lunch.
[Sciutto:] Yes.
[Trumka:] This whole bill is just misdirected. It's stood on its head. What we need to do is get it directed at working people so that we can actually grow our way back out of this problem.
[Sciutto:] Richard Trumka, we appreciate you taking the time this morning and joining the broadcast.
[Trumka:] Thanks, Jim. Thanks for having me on.
[Sciutto:] And we'll be right back.