Amidst Wall Street Woes, Labor Activist & Writer Bill Fletcher on "Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor"

The Wall Street Journal has called it the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. The Washington Post described Wednesday as one of the most tumultuous days ever for financial markets. A recent Financial Times headline read “Goodbye capitalism American-style.” The events on Wall Street in recent weeks have shocked the financial world. The federal government has used taxpayer money to bailout the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as the American Insurance Group.

Meanwhile Lehman Brothers has declared bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch has been bought out by Bank of America and Morgan Stanley in in talks to sell almost half of the company to a state-run Chinese investment fund. And now the the Fed and Congress are working on an unprecedented bailout plan that could result in the most direct commitment of taxpayer funds so far in the financial crisis.

While the press has extensively covered the Wall Street meltdown, little attention has been paid to what this means to the American worker. On Thursday the Federal Reserve announced that American households had lost three trillion dollars over the past nine months. The nation’s unemployment rate has reached 6.1 percent, a five-year high. The unemployment rate for African Americans is now in double digits, at 10.6 percent.

Wages remain stagnant and retirement funds are taking a major hit as stock values plummet. Since President Bush took office the S&P 500 has fallen 14 percent.

We are joined in Washington by longtime labor activist and writer Bill Fletcher. He is co-author with Fernando Gapasin of the new book “Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path Toward Social Justice.” He is the executive editor of BlackCommentator.com and the former President of TransAfrica Forum.

Bill Fletcher, co-author with Fernando Gapasin of the new book Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social Justice. He is the executive editor of BlackCommentator.com and the former president of TransAfrica Forum.

LISTEN ONLINE