Unions in the US have called on the Bush administration to do more to
protect employees and to increase the financial aid for those that have been
laid off due to the terrorist attack.
AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Richard Trumka denounced the economic stimulus
packages passed last week by the White House, saying they grant "huge tax
cuts to big business and the wealthy, with practically nothing for working
families.
"The federal Government should do more to stimulate the economy by
putting money in the pockets of working families who will need it to pay their
bills, buy food, and pay down debts," said Trumka at a union safety
conference.
Patricia Friend, national president of the Association of Flight Attendants,
told delegates that airline industry executives had accepted a government
bail-out with no new assistance for the many employees they dismissed.
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"The score today is, airline CEOs $15bn, airline workers zero,"
said Friend, referring to the airline aid package that provides $5bn in direct
aid to airlines and $10bn in loans and grants that not all airlines, including
US Airways, plan to use. "They got their money. We got nothing."
