STATEMENT BY SECRETARY-TREASURER RICHARD TRUMKA TO THE KEEP IT MADE IN AMERICA BUS TOUR

May 11, 2009 -- On behalf of the 11 million members of the AFL-CIO throughout America who build our homes, teach our kids, fight our fires, and nurse us back to health, I have a message for every worker and auto dealer-every community leader and elected official-who's riding on the Keep It Made in America bus tour: You're not alone. The American union movement is on the bus with you. We-like you-are determined to save the 7 million jobs and the thousands of communities that depend on a strong, vibrant auto industry and its supply chain. We believe in what you're fighting for.  We respect and applaud you for leading this fight.

The bus tour that you're bringing to 11 states and more than 30 cities means a lot to each of us. We know very well that it's about the workers who build our cars. But it's also about the workers who make auto parts and conveyor belts and auto catalogs. It's about the miners of iron ore that go into steel-the bank workers who write auto loans-the teachers and police officers whose salaries depend on a solid, strong tax base.

A few days ago, President Obama said, "If you are considering buying a car, I hope it will be an American car." He's exactly right. But as he knows and as we know,  if we're going to restore our domestic auto industry and its supply chain to where they should be, we need to stimulate demand for cars made in the USA. We need to restore the flow of credit to consumers and auto suppliers. We need to overhaul health care and relieve this industry and its workers of a burden that they cannot bear any longer.

I hope and pray this will happen. But hoping and praying won't be enough. I promise you here and now that we'll spread the word, we'll take a stand, we'll lobby our legislators, we'll speak out, and we'll turn the economy around until the day comes when America's auto industry and its supply chain are once again as prosperous and once again as great as America deserves.